SIBU: A standard operating procedure (SOP) needs to be passed to empower local authorities to tackle the issue of abandoned houses more effectively.
Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) deputy chairman Dato Andrew Wong said it was difficult to deal with the matter within the confines of the present law, jurisdiction and constraints.
He said local authoorities were faced with the difficulty of tracing the owners as many had moved away and some had even left the state.
“There are a lot of things, including legal matters that need to be considered, which is not for a single council to decide.
“This has to be brought to the higher authority – to be discussed at state, federal or cabinet level concerning all issues that local councils are facing when it comes to tackling abandoned houses.
“You have to remember that even though these are abandoned houses, they are sitting on titled land and are still privately owned.
“If abandoned houses are one of the primary causes in the rise of dengue fever cases then, a specific law needs to be passed so that local authorities can tackle the matter more efficiently,” Wong said yesterday.
He was asked about steps taken by the council to deal with abandoned houses here following disclosure by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam that these houses and idle land were the biggest contributors to the breeding of Aedes mosquitoes.
Dr Subramaniam was further quoted to have said the cumulative cases of dengue reported from January to June 27 this year had shown an increase of 34 per cent or 56,533 cases compared to 42,229 cases in the corresponding period last year.
Wong went on to say that the council started dealing with abandoned houses end of last year.
“Many of these abandoned houses are owned by multiple owners while some owners cannot be traced. So, there is a difficulty in getting all the owners together and agreeing on the course of action.
“Even if you want to issue a compound to the landowner, the question is who do you issue it to?”
He said many of the abandoned houses were no longer fit for occupation.
“The only way is to compel the owners to clear up the compound of the house or demolish the house.
“Unfortunately, we failed to get all the owners together because many are no longer living in Sibu or Sarawak,” he said.
Wong said in many cases demolition was not a viable option as the abandoned houses were semi-detached or intermediate terraced houses.
He said the drastic measure would be to enter these houses and clean them but who would bear the cost or whether there was a special funding for such measure, he said.
Then, there was also the legal aspect of whether they could force their way in, considering the houses were private properties, he said.
“Who would be responsible if there is an injury or damage to the property”.
Meanwhile, the state Health Department said Sibu District had the highest number of dengue cases in Sarawak at 746 cases.
To this Wong said: “We have actually beefed up our enforcement team and we have carried out preventive measures with the Health Department.
“This means we are going door-to-door especially in those areas that have been identified by the department as hotspots and to compound those found to be breeding Aedes larvae in their compound.”