Solve garbage problem within a month, Selangor authorities told

PETALING JAYA: The Selangor state and local authorities have been asked to solve the garbage management problem in the Petaling and Hulu Langat districts within a month.

They are to present updates on the garbage management situation to the national task force meeting on dengue next month, said Health director-general Datuk Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

“From Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam’s visits to Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara and Taman Taming Jaya flats, the issue of garbage in Selangor was not managed well.

“Too many piles of garbage were uncollected while the surroundings are dirty,” he said in a press statement posted on www.kpkesihatan.com yesterday.

Dr Noor Hisham said the services provided were not enough for the community – for instance, only three garbage bins were provided for four blocks of flats.

The garbage management was still being implemented in stages in Petaling and Hulu Langat districts, he said.

Local authorities were also asked to take dengue preventive measures in view of ­traders selling their food and wares into the night during Ramadan.

“They must carry out larvaciding and preventive fogging in public places. They must also ensure that rubbish are collected and the surrounding area cleaned up,” he said.

From June 28 to July 4, a total of 2,832 dengue cases were reported nationwide compared with 2,710 cases the week before, which is a 5% increase.

From January to July 4, a total of 59,365 cases had been reported compared with 44,518 cases for the same period last year, an increase of 14,847 or 4%.

There were 165 dengue deaths in total, almost double the number (85) in the same period last year. The top three states with the highest number of dengue cases were Selangor (726), followed by Johor (217) and Perak (52).

Local authorities to be penalised in anti-dengue op

the star

BY LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: In an unprecedented move to battle the dengue scourge, the Health Ministry will fine local authorities if they fail to clean up areas under their care.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subra­maniam said that the ministry would penalise the local authorities under the Destruction of Disease Bearing Insect Act 1975 if their areas were found to be breeding mosquitoes.

“If we find the absence of action by the local authorities contributed to breeding of mosquitoes, our ­ministry will take action against them,” he said during a spot check in Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara here yesterday.

Dr Subramaniam said the ministry would not hesitate to act against the local authorities if they conti­nued to turn a blind eye to cleanliness issues.

Deputy health director-general Datuk Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman said no fines had been imposed against errant government departments until now.

From January to June 20, Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara, which covers a 162ha area, made up of mainly flats, condominiums, residential areas and squatter areas, had reported 288 dengue cases with two deaths.

Pointing to the sites where people had dumped rubbish, including the river, Dr Subramaniam said the local authorities had not done well in garbage collection.

“Whatever measures we take will not succeed if the local authorities and residents do not take this seriously and change their attitude,” he said.

A resident in Jalan Cempaka, Husin Chea, 56, said garbage bins provided by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) were not enough and garbage collection was not frequent enough although it was done regularly.

He said the presence of many foreigners in the area also added to the bulk of the garbage, adding that outsiders were also throwing rubbish into their neighbourhood.

More needs to be done in Kayu Ara

PETALING JAYA: The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) has admitted that work needs to be done in Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara although the garbage situation has improved in the last two years following efforts to clean up the area.

MBPJ Solid Waste Manage­ment Department director Lee Lih Shyan said they had placed six huge garbage bins along Jalan Cempaka for the community there.

Although it was adequate according to the number of residents, he said illegal dumping of waste by outsiders posed a challenge.

“We are in the midst of solving the problem as we discovered it last year and we are doing our best to solve the issue,” he said, adding that the contractor had been collecting the bulk garbage three times a week.

Lee said this following Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subra­maniam’s comment that the local authorities had failed to address the garbage problem in Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara.

Dr Subramaniam said he would do spot checks once every two weeks in areas with high dengue cases in the country.

Lee also said that vacant idle land and illegal recycling activities also posed a challenge to the garbage issue there.

He said traders tended to leave their garbage indiscriminately after sorting out and taking only things they wanted.

Health Ministry to penalise local authorities indifferent to dengue menace

the star
BY LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: In an unprecedented move to battle the dengue scourge, the Health Ministry has warned local authorities that it would fine them if they fail to buck up and clean up areas under their care.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the Ministry would not hesitate to fine them under the Destruction of Disease Bearing Insect Act 1975 if their localities were found to be breeding mosquitoes.

"If we find that the absence of action on the part of the local authorities has contributed to breeding of mosquitoes, our Ministry, if we have evidence, we will take action against them," he said.

Dr Subramaniam said this during a spot check at Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara here Friday morning.

Under the Act, owners of premises found breeding mosquitoes could be issued a compound of up to RM500 or charged in court, said deputy health director-general Datuk Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman.

First-time offenders can be fine not more than RM10,000 or jailed for not more than two years while repeat offenders can be fined RM50,000, jailed two years or both.

He said such action had never been taken against other Government departments, including schools, until now.

Dr Subramaniam said the Ministry would not hesitate to move in this direction due to the severity of the situation.

He said this when asked the action that the Ministry would take if local authorities do not clean up their backyard, as many such instances had been highlighted by the press.

"For now, I am asking the state health director to give updates and show pictures of problematic sites to state authorities and asked them what action the authorities will take," he said.

Don: Rope in university students to tackle dengue

PETALING JAYA: With the dengue threat continuing unabated, a health expert has suggested that the brains of university students be picked on how best to counter the menace.

Universiti Malaya virologist Prof Dr Sazaly Abu Bakar wants a competition held in universities to come up with ideas on how to reduce dengue infections.

Backing the decision of the national dengue task force in getting universities to “adopt” nearby dengue hotspots, Dr Sazaly said such a competition would help in the search for a solution.

“But there must be clear targets on what is needed,” he added.

On Wednesday, the taskforce, made up of several ministries and agencies, announced that it would work with the Education Ministry to get 27 public and private higher education institutions involved in the fight against dengue.

Dr Sazaly said university students and staff should be guided on how to protect themselves from the Aedes mosquitoes.

He also said many Malaysians were still “uneducated” on rubbish disposal and that the students could help overcome this.

“Malaysians often think that it’s the Government’s job to keep places clean. This mindset has to go,” he added.

Dr Sazaly said getting local councils to fumigate areas was not enough. “We must do more.”

Varsities to help fight dengue

PETALING JAYA: Universities will be roped in to “adopt” nearby dengue hotspots to fight the menace.

The national dengue task force, made up of multiple ministries and agencies, has decided this and will collaborate with the Education Ministry. The move will involve 27 public and private higher education institutions.

“The universities will be guided by state health offices. This is to create awareness and bring about change in health-seeking behaviours,” Health director-general Datuk Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said yesterday.

The task force’s latest move was posted on his Facebook page after its meeting yesterday.

The universities would also organise “Dengue Free Campus” programmes involving staff and students, he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said private hospitals were also asked to ensure that their physicians updated themselves with the latest guidelines on clinical management of dengue as 20% of dengue deaths nationwide occurred in their facilities.

“We will work together with the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia in making this happen,” he said.

According to ministry data, another four dengue patients died during the week June 21 to 27, putting the country’s total dengue deaths this year at 162.

From January to June 27, the ministry reported 56,533 dengue cases with 162 deaths compared with 42,229 cases and 82 deaths during the same period last year.

The ministry expected the increasing trend in dengue cases to continue until the end of the year.

Healthcare industry urged to improve services

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian healthcare industry members have been challenged to improve services.

In giving the thumbs up to medical tourism, Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Ashok Philip said the healthcare sector should keep improving its services to meet patients’ needs.

He said more private medical centres were being accredited by the Malaysian Society for Quality in Healthcare and the Joint Commission International.

“Because of that, foreign patients have a fair amount of confidence,” he said in a telephone interview.

He was responding to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s announcement on Tuesday that medical tourism would be made a priority for Malaysia.

Malaysia had 770,000 medical tourists last year, bringing in around RM700mil in revenue.

The number is expected to rise to 930,000, with an estimated revenue of RM1bil, he said.

Dr Ashok said the country was attracting medical tourists in a big way and had many repeat customers, especially from Indonesia.

Asked if medical tourism might worsen the brain drain in public healthcare, Dr Ashok agreed that private hospitals generally roped in more specialists from the public sector.

And for this reason, the Health Ministry encouraged more doctors to go for alternative ways of getting their Master’s degrees.

However, Fomca secretary-general Datuk Paul Selvaraj is worried that with increasing demands from medical tourism, the private sector would keep taking specialists from the public sector and this would cause a longer waiting period for patients there.

“The focus should be on improving healthcare for Malaysians first,” he said.