Prototype of mosquito-trapping device created

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Kamarlin (right) looking at the prototype created by the state Museum staff to capture mosquitoes and their larvae and terminate them.

Kamarlin (right) looking at the prototype created by the state Museum staff to capture mosquitoes and their larvae and terminate them.

KOTA KINABALU: Staff members of Sabah Museum have created their own mosquito trapping device prototype.

State Museum director Sintiong Gelet said at the launch of the Jungle Treasures Exhibition which will be held until Dec 31, that the idea for the device was garnered during a recent expo which showcased a similar device but using plastic bottles.

He added that the hope to trap mosquitoes into the device as well as lure them to lay their eggs in the basin was also part of the prototype.

The aim of the prototype is eventually to eradicate the mosquitoes and their larvae, he said.

“We will see if it is successful. If it is, then it can be commercialised,” he said.

He added that the prototype costs them over RM2,000 to make.

Meanwhile, the effort by the State Museum was lauded by Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun who was represented by the ministry’s Assistant Minister Datuk Kamarlin Ombi.

He said the effort was in line with the call made by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman to eradicate mosquito breeding grounds and to stop the spread of the Zika virus in Sabah.

At the same time Masidi also commented on the exhibition featuring Sabah’s jungle treasures, citing that the young people of Sabah were forgetting the tradition of their forefathers with regard to knowledge on jungle plants and their usage.

He hoped through the exhibition, such knowledge will again be made known to the younger people of Sabah.

He reminded that about 60 percent of Sabah is still covered by lush jungle that is rich in flora and fauna.

“They provide resources in food, medicine, construction material, fuel as well as the natural environment,” he said.

During the event, staff of the museum as well as students carried out a gotong-royong to rid the site of mosquito breeding grounds as well as of litters.