SIBU: The ‘Mosquito Magnet’ pilot project here will be introduced to other parts of the state if it proves successful and effective in combating dengue.
According to Local Government and Community Development Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh, the innovative device has been installed at five locations across this division, which has been marked as a dengue ‘hotspot’ due to it recording the highest number of cases in Sarawak.
“That is why Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) has adopted this pilot project and if proven successful, it may be a great assistance in reducing incidents of dengue here,” Wong told reporters when met after the SMC Annual Dinner Cum Appreciation Night 2016’ here on Saturday.
He pointed out the council had put in a great deal of effort to fight dengue.
“Many drains have also been cleared.”
Meanwhile, SMC deputy chairman Andrew Wong disclosed that based on the analysis by Universiti Malaya (UM), the ‘Mosquito Magnet’ had proven to be very successful.
“The number of Aedes mosquitoes caught was roughly close to about 50 per cent.”
SMC, he said, was seeking state government’s funding to implement the project in key areas here.
“The proposal is ready and we will be submitting (it) to Dato Sri (Wong) and Datuk Dr Jerip Susil (Assistant Minister of Public Health) towards the request for allocations for implementation in schools, parks and hotspot areas in Sibu,” Andrew said, adding that about RM500,000 was required for such implementation.
Additionally, he mentioned that the analysis would be presented to the Public Health, Environment and Municipal Services Standing Committee this week before being released to the media.
He also recalled that recently, the media highlighted a rise in dengue cases in the region, especially in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.
“As such, we want to prevent the same thing from happening here. Sibu constitutes about 70 per cent of dengue cases in Sarawak, which is something that we should not be taking lightly.”
On this, Andrew said the other measure in SMC’s two-prong approach under the ‘Dengue Eradication Project’ would involve extensive drain clearing in hotspot areas which if approved, would cover a length of 131,800m, particularly in Zone 5, 7 and 14.
“The exercise is estimated to cost about half a million (ringgit),” he added.
The ‘Mosquito Magnet’, which utilises US-technology, was launched by SMC chairman Datuk Tiong Thai King on Nov 12 last year. It was introduced in Malaysia early last year, having undergone tests by the relevant authorities and certification bodies before it could be marketed.
Based on early media reports, the device could cover an area of up to one acre, running uninterruptedly under all kinds of weather round-the-clock, seven days a week.
It emits a consistent and odourless stream of carbon dioxide, warmth and moisture into the air to attract mosquitoes.
It uses the ‘CounterFlow System’ technology — a highly effective and powerful suction system to vacuum mosquitoes into a net, where the trapped insects would die from dehydration within 24 hours.