Friday March 13, 2009

Aedes breeders in hot water

By ELAN PERUMAL

ABANDONED house owners in Selangor will be taken to task by the local authorities for breeding aedes mosquitos.

State health committee chairman Dr Xavier Jeyakumar told the state assembly that action would be taken against those caught with mosquito breeding grounds in their premises.

He said owners of abandoned houses and premises suspected of having aedes breeding grounds would be first served with notices.

Xavier: ‘The council will move into the premises and clean them up if the owners fail to comply to the warning.’

“The council will move into the premises and clean them up if the owners fail to comply to the warning,’’ he said.

Besides being fined, the abandoned property owners would be charged for the clearing and cleaning works carried out by the council, said Xavier.

He said there were two ways of billing them, one is through direct billing process and the second one via the assessment bills.

“We are serious in our efforts to control the dengue epidemic in Selangor and therefore the state is seeking the cooperation of all parties including authorities and public.

“I wish to give credit to the State Health Department and the district health offices for giving their best efforts in order to keep the dengue situation under control,’’ he added.

Xavier said the local authorities had been working hard in their efforts to prevent dengue outbreaks in their areas.

Besides enforcement action, he said, they had been involved in fogging exercise and holding gotong-royong at dengue prone areas.

“They have been also involved in programmes to create awareness among people on the danger of dengue and ways to prevent aedes from breeding their homes and compounds,” he said.

“Flyers are also being distributed to the public,’’ he said.