Rural council gets residents to help control dengue

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SIBU: Fearing that the wet spell may trigger a dengue outbreak, Sibu Rural District Council (SRDC) is going door-to-door to get the some 20,000 Sibu Jaya residents to help contain the disease.

The chairman James Laju Ambok said they were visiting every lane to get the people to fight the Aedes mosquitoes.

Their previous two campaigns had yielded positive results with overwhelming response from the residents.

“There are human interactions as we get to meet up with the residents and advise them to take precautions and actions to eradicate the disease bearing insects.

“And the approach has been found to be most effective in garnering public support in waging a war against the harmful pests. But there is always room

for improvement,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday when asked about their strategies in view of the rainy season.

While he did not deny that the rainy season may see a surge in the number of dengue cases here, Laju said they were doing everything they could to contain the disease.

He said they were monitoring the situation very closely and constantly liaised with the Divisional Health Office (DHO) to obtain advice.

“The cleaning and public education programmes are on-going to create a heightened awareness among the people and galvanise their support in keeping their compounds and surroundings clean and hygienic.

“We will not rest on our laurels and will continue to roll out more of such activities in the coming days.”

He explained that everyone had a responsibility in keeping the environment clean and free from the disease-bearing insect.

He said it was inconsequential for a resident to keep his place clean while his neighbour could not be bothered about cleanliness.

As such, disease could still be transmitted as not everyone was making cleanliness their business, he noted, advising the residents to spend at least

10 to 15 minutes a day to check for Aedes breeding grounds.

He, however, said if they were not able to do so daily, they could at least do it once a week.

Laju called on the residents to interact regularly to keep each other posted on the latest information.

He said constant interaction and communication would help foster ties among the residents and direct them towards concerted effort in combating Aedes mosquitoes.

He also advised residents to keep themselves up-to-date through media such as television, newspapers and others.

He appreciated the effort of Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU), neighbourhood watch committee and People’s Vigilante Corps (Rela) for working closely with SRDC in organising cleaning campaigns to keep the township spick and span.

People, he reckoned, also needed to be more proactive and not relying completely on the authorities to keep their surroundings clean and free from diseases.