KOTA KINABALU: The Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) and Sabah Health Department have conducted an operation dubbed ‘Ops Bersepadu’ to eradicate dengue fever and prevent it from spreading in various villages at Gaya Island.
The operation was initiated after City Hall received reports of 15 dengue fever cases in three villages in Gaya Island, namely Kampung Lok Urai, Kampung Kesuapan and Kampung Lok Baru.
According to City Hall director-general Datuk Joannes Solidau, most of these cases were believed to have involved children.
“I was made to understand that there were 15 dengue fever cases in Gaya Island. Today (Wednesday), our aim is to conduct a search and destroy operation to get rid of the mosquito larvae from the houses in these villages,” Joannes told reporters during yesterday’s operation.
However, during yesterday’s operation, City Hall personnel found only one dengue case that was positive.
It is understood that the dengue cases had only started occurring early this year and that most had involved school children.
“Most of the dengue cases involved school children as they would often move from one village to another just to go to school. This made them prone to mosquito bites as they would have to climb hills and walk through woods,” he explained.
Joannes said he was happy to see that there was a slight improvement in regards to the cleanliness of the island.
“If you came here two of three years ago, the condition was even worse. The rubbish can reach up to two to three feet high. Now, the condition is much better. We hope the villagers will cooperate by not simply throwing rubbish anywhere and everywhere,” he said.
“In the future, we might be setting up nets to prevent outside rubbish from coming into the island and also to prevent the rubbish thrown by villagers from going out.
“In this way, we can identify which houses have been guilty of such acts and we can charge them with compounds, just like what we did in Kampung Sembulan,” he added.
However, before such proposal can be implemented, a proper discussion with the villagers must first be conducted to ensure that all parties are agreeable with the idea of setting up nets, Joannes contended.
He admitted that besides the pros, there are also cons to the idea, as the setting up of nets might accumulate rubbish within the village and thus create a hazard to the villagers.
Joannes explained that there were no compounds given during yesterday’s operation as the main aim was to educate the villagers on the dangers of dengue.
In this regard, he disclosed that the City Hall and the Health Department had recently issued five compounds during an operation in Taman Putrajaya, Telipok.
He stressed that all the efforts made by City Hall would amount to nothing if there is no cooperation and awareness among the villagers of Pulau Gaya.
During the operation, health officers conducted a talk on dengue prevention for the villagers.
The Royal Malaysian Navy, the Royal Malaysian Police marine unit and Sabah Parks also took part in the operation.