By Afix Redzuan
RAWANG, June 10 – Selangor government will discuss the need to amend the by-laws under the local governments to enable state authorities in taking stricter action to curb the spread of dengue cases.
State executive councillor Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud said there is a need to do so as there are several issues that made it difficult for them to conduct enforcement.
“The current by-laws are difficult to enforce. We have to find the (premise) owners to serve the compound and (notices) could not simply be posted anywhere,” she said during a media conference here yesterday.
Dr Siti Mariah said the rise of abandoned houses, especially at high-rise buildings such as apartments, made it difficult for its Joint Management Body (JMB) to conduct clean-ups.
She said the situation worsens due to the lackadaisical attitude of tenants and the construction of illegal extensions of houses, which became breeding ground for Aedes mosquitoes.
“If it is not properly maintained and dengue-free, the cases will come back. Most areas that were declared free of the epidemic only stayed that way for a while before becoming dengue zones again,” she said.
She added Selangor registered a drop in dengue cases during the recent movement control order (MCO) compared to the same period last year as people were forced to stay at home.
Earlier, Dr Siti Mariah visited Taman Cempaka in Serendah, which recorded 56 dengue cases and one death in the last three months, and had also visited Pangsapuri Teratai in Bukit Beruntung.
