By Khairul Azran Hussin
SHAH ALAM, Feb 17 — Several legal restrictions and technical issues damper the efforts in dengue prevention in Selangor.
State Health, Welfare, Women Empowerment and Family committee chairman Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud said enforcement officers face a problem to issue summons when it is difficult to identify the owner of abandoned construction sites or land.
“It is easier for them to conduct checks for mosquito breeding sites at residential areas.
“But we face a problem to do the same in abandoned sites as we are not able to issue a summon to an unidentified owner,” she told SelangorKini yesterday.
Siti Mariah had also called for the public to pinpoint abandoned areas and report it to local authorities so that ‘gotong-royong’ activities can be carried out, including removing abandoned cars or bulky waste.
She said though efforts to control dengue in the state has also been intensified by eliminating the mosquito breeding sites, she hopes that the action taken by the local authorities and the state health department would receive public support.
“The fight against dengue will continue this year and we will not give up in making Selangor a dengue-free state.
“Additional funds have been allocated for local authorities to eliminate mosquito breeding sites, but the efforts would only be successful if the people cooperate,” she said.
The Selangor government has allocated RM5 million to combat dengue, which includes prevention and control activities across the state, compared to RM3 million last year.
According to the National Dengue Operations Room, Selangor recorded the highest dengue cases with 11,338 total cases from December 29 last year to February 8.
