Fight dengue, builders urged

Fight dengue, builders urged BY GIAM SAY KHOON HOUSING developers have been urged to take more pro-active steps to help fight the dengue scourge. In addition to keeping construction sites clean in order to deprive aedes mosquitoes of breeding grounds, they were asked to follow the example of Bandar Utama Development Sdn Bhd which has mounted its own fogging campaign, especially in housing areas developed by the company, which are already occupied. In making the call recently, Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MPPJ) president Datuk Ahmad Termizi lauded Bandar Utama's initiative in the fight against dengue fever. He said the council was facing a shortage of manpower to fight the disease, with only six fogging teams and a large area to cover. "Although we have scheduled our teams to operate daily with state Health Department staff, it is quite impossible to cover all the areas. "We also cannot afford to hire private fogging companies as they are expensive. "Therefore, we welcome Bandar Utama's initiative and hope more developers can organise fogging campaigns to help MPPJ combat dengue fever," Ahmad Termizi told reporters after opening the company's AntiDengue Campaign on Monday. Willie Kuok, a purchaser for Bandar Utama Development, told theSun the company had launched the campaign to help protect residents of the housing estate. He said a private fogging company had been hired to cover all phases of the housing area ? an operation which would last a month. "Each day of the operation (which covers two to three phases) costs us around RM3,000," he said. Ahmad Termizi said the shortage of staff also makes it difficult for the council to conduct houseto-house checks. However, random checks on houses, shop lots and factories are being conducted. The council has issued about 200 summonses to owners of premises on which mosquito larvae were found.