SIBU: A rapid response squad will be formed to immediately respond to public’s call for removal of strays from the streets and neighbourhood areas here.
Assistant Minister of Housing and Public Health Dr Annuar Rapaee said for a start, three such teams will be set up to complement the existing dog catching teams involved in the on-going operation.
There are presently five teams involved in the operation, namely from Sibu Rural District Council (SRDC), Meradong, Julau, Sarikei and Kanowit District Councils.
“We will form an extra team to rapidly respond to calls from the public received through the hotline. At the moment, the existing teams are involved in removing strays in undisclosed locations.
“In this way, the rapid response squad can be deployed to a particular area without disrupting the routine of the existing teams involved in the on-going operation to remove strays from the streets,” he said at a dinner hosted on Saturday.
The dinner was to thank the various government agencies involved in the rabies control programme for their hard work and the media for disseminatiing the information to the public.
Also present were Ministry of Local Government and Housing’s public health chief Dr Cheong Yaw Ling, SRDC deputy chairman Robert Lau and secretary Justani Joni.
Dr Annuar, who is also Assistant Minister for Education and Technological Research added: “In that way, the public will have confidence in calling the hotline, knowing that their concerns will be immediately acted on.”
He also attributed the smooth operation to the good cooperation from the public.
For the record, removal of strays from the streets is part of the two-pronged rabies control programme implemented in Sibu division.
The other measure involved vaccination of dogs where pet owners are encouraged to bring their dogs for free anti-rabies vaccination at various centres over the next couple of weeks.
Dr Annuar, who heads the rabies control team, further pointed out that the strategy will be constantly reviewed to ensure its effectiveness.
“I am very happy (with the development thus far) and I have already informed the main centre (State Disaster Management Committee).
“In fact, they acknowledge that the other parts of Sarawak should emulate what Sibu is doing at the moment,” he said.
He also expressed sadness over the latest human rabies case involving a 59-year-old man from Jalan Batu Kawa-Matang in Kuching.
He corrected the notion as what was mentioned by the opposition that the disease was making a comeback.
“This is not the disease making a comeback – it is just that we have not contained it 100 per cent yet,” he explained.
Dr Annuar said: “With the new case detected (in Kuching), there is no retreat, no surrender for us in Sibu and we have to go all out to curb the disease by vaccinating some 70 per cent of the dogs in the division besides removal of strays.”
“I am praying very hard that there is not even a single dog rabies case in Sibu division.”
Members of the public can also WhatsApp photographs and location of stray dogs to 013-8077964 (Mr Ranggie). They can also report locations of stray dogs to 084-310808.