Expressing his concern, Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) Chairman, Lo Khere Chiang, said that there were 136 dengue fever cases in Kuching, 11 cases in Bau and three cases in Lundu. “In August, five dengue cases were recorded in Kampung Paroh, Tapah Village, Kampung Bengoh, Kampung Plaman Teng and Kampung Karu,” he told a press conference at the MPP Service Centre, Batu Kawa yesterday. Lo added last month, six dengue cases were recorded in Tapah Village, Taman Desa Wira, Kampung Plaman Seromah, Kampung Chupak and Kampung Gayu.
“During our Standing Committee meeting last month, we noticed increases of dengue fever cases mostly in Kuching City.
“Last time, dengue fever only happened in villages but now, it is happening in the city areas,” he said.
“This is a serious problem that needs to be addressed and cannot be taken lightly because dengue fever has no cure and can lead to death.”
Hence, the public needed to know that aedes mosquitoes bred on illegal dumping sites, in stagnant water in bottles, drains, used bamboo tubes and coconut husks.
“We are human beings. When we travel, we go to places that are clean and beautiful. “Definitely, you would not want to go to places that are dirty, have dengue fever or malaria,” said Lo.
“Indeed, we cannot stop dengue fever cases immediately but we can prevent them. The council alone cannot solve this problem. We need the community to cooperate with us by keeping their surroundings clean,” he said.
Meanwhile, Environmental Health Officer from Kuching Health Department, Kassim Serah, said there were dengue outbreaks in the Padawan areas of Simuti, Bengoh, Chupak and Sikog. “Cases linked to the outbreaks occured in Sibakar, Sibuang, Bayur and SMK Penrissen while there were isolated cases in Kampung Gayu, Biyar Jabor, Sadir, Bruang Bayur, Jambu, Landeh, Teng Bukap, Karu, Sungai Moyan, Taman Moyan, Rantau Panjang, Sudat, Desa Wira and Semengok,” he added.
“We are now doing fogging, conducting “gotong-royong” activities and awareness programmes in all outbreak areas to educate the public on the importance of keeping their surroundings clean.”
Kassim said that compounds of RM500 were also issued in the affected areas to stop the cases from spreading. Kassim said that fogging was usually done during the peak biting time of the aedes mosquitoes – from 5.00am till 8.00am or from 5.00pm till 8.00pm.
“The public must seek treatment immediately if they show any symptoms of dengue cases such as high fever, joint pain, bleeding in the gums and nose or rashes,” he stressed.
At the press conference, Trienekens Sarawak Sdn Bhd’s Senior Manager (Logistics and Services), Sarius Lee, also raised his concern over the illegal dumping at Lorong 15 of RPR Batu Kawa.
“It is time to change public attitudes on the cleanliness of neighbourhoods in order to control the outbreak of diseases,” he stressed. Lee pointed out that illegal dumping had been one of the causes of dengue fever. “On Trienekens’ side, collection of rubbish alone cannot solve the problem. This is a man made problem and cleanliness is the joint responsibility of all,” he said.
Wednesday 11-Nov-2015
New Sarawak Tribune.
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