(First row from eighth left) Dr Veronica, Lee, Aziz, Usman and the villagers giving the thumbs-up to the gotong-royong.
MIRI: The spread of dengue here is under control though a total of 36 dengue cases were reported from the beginning of this year.
Nevertheless, Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Lee Kim advised the people in the city to continue to give priority attention to keeping their house compounds clean and free from being breeding grounds of aedes mosquitoes.
Speaking to villagers when closing the Gotong-Royong cum Malaysia Day Celebration at Kampung Pujut Tanjong Batu here yesterday, the Senadin assemblyman said on average two cases of the disease were reported in the city in a week.
“If more than two cases in a week, it is classified as outbreak which needs to be given serious attention. In 2015, the dengue cases reported in Miri was drastically more but the number has slightly dropped since last year.”
Thus, he reminded the villagers to keep their house compounds clean so that they do not become breeding grounds for aedes mosquitoes.
“There is no need to wait for gotong-royong as you can do it by yourself. Just spend about 10 minutes a day to clear stagnant water within our home compound and discard items that can become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
“Aedes larvae thrive in clear stagnant water, places such as flower pot, exposed water tanks, fridge trays, septic tanks and discarded polystyrene containers.”
Also present were Miri district officer Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusuf, Miri Division health officer Dr Veronica Lugah and village head Usman Sulaiman.
More than 100 villagers took part in the gotong-royong to clean their house compounds.
Apart from the work party, an exhibition on dengue and basic public health check conducted under a national healthy community programme called Komuniti Sihat Perkasa Negara (Kospen) were held.