Eradicating dengue

Dengue is back in the news again and what is more Colombo is the worst affected District. In a way this is nothing to be surprised at given the unkempt state of the city with soaring garbage mountains and general decay a familiar sight. The upcoming monsoons can only aggravate the situation and urgent steps are needed to make the city capital risk free from disease and pestilences.

The revelation made by Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva that Colombo tops the Districts for the highest number of Dengue cases is indeed alarming to say the least. Responding to an oral question in Parliament on Wednesday the Minister said there were 13 dengue deaths in Colombo last year out of the 1600 cases reported. According to statistics presented by the Minister there had been a steady rise of victims afflicted by the epidemic in recent years with the number of deaths too on the increase.

What is unthinkable is how Colombo of all places with its more knowledgeable public and sophisticated backdrop came to be number one in the country with the highest cases of Dengue.

Apparently all the deterrent action taken by the Health Ministry to eradicate mosquito breeding grounds had failed to work. We are yet to hear of even a single prosecution of a violator of guidelines issued by the Public Health Officer of the CMC pertaining to sanitary standards.

If anything, the situation is worse. Colombo is perhaps the only city where garbage is found in such a profusion. These garbage piles for most part remain uncollected contributing to disease. The foul waterways, overgrown lands, unkempt premises, clogged drains, abandoned receptacles have all contributed to making Colombo a haven for the dengue mosquito. The dense population in the city can be cited as a main factor for this overall pollution. The many hotels and eateries that are jammed together in congested parts of the city no less adds to the mess together with the Manning Market in the Pettah with its putrefying vegetable and fruits and piles of rotting waste alongside stagnant pools of water inviting disease and epidemics.

According to statistics the most number of dengue cases have been reported from tightly pressed community dwellings particularly in the Modera, Mattakkuliya areas. Special attention should be focused on these high risk locations to prevent the spread of disease. Steps should also be taken to educate the public in order get the message across more effectively. Teledramas which have a popular appeal, carrying a theme on Dengue, public lectures by professionals and even clergy on the need to maintain clean surroundings could send this message forcefully to the general public. Schools too should be drawn into the campaign and young minds drilled on the importance of keeping a clean and pollution-free environment.

The CMC should at least now get its act together and take positive steps to make Colombo a clean city. Mere garbage collection would not suffice. It should get its officials to fan out across the city and visit each and every home to get people to clean up their premises. Steps should also be taken to clear all weedy overgrown land plots and foul waterways that breed the dengue mosquito. What has become of those armies of malathion sprinklers who used to roam the Colombo city with those bulky cylinders on their backs to spray residential premises? It is time that more serious action is taken to arrest the increasing trend of epidemics in Colombo. Those violating anti-pollution guidelines should be publicly exposed and given stiff sentences. Nothing short would make our people toe the line.

After all it is lives that are stake. Only a simple solution needs to be applied - keeping the city clean.

This would automatically eradicate all disease and epidemics such as dengue and Chikengunya. It is time that the sleeping giant that is the Colombo Municipal Council wakes up from its slumber and earn its keep or the day may not be far when Colombo becomes a no-go zone to the general public, plagued by disease and epidemics.

A noble mission

The humanitarian act of Navy which rescued 643 civilians fleeing in boats in the Northern High seas ought to engage the attention of the critics of our armed forces both here and abroad.

What is more worthy of attention is that the Navy personnel who rescued these civilians had risked their lives, since the boats the civilians were fleeing in were being fired at by the LTTE.

According to our page one story yesterday the Navy had acted swiftly to avert a major tragedy after seeing a flotilla of small dinghies carrying civilians being hunted down by four Tiger craft which were directing fire at the civilian boats.

This can hardly be an act of an armed force which is accused of being committing genocide. On the contrary by coming to the rescue of over 600 civilians it has indeed prevented an act of genocide.

Nor would this accord with stories in the British Media that IDPs were kept in 'concentration camps'. No Navy personnel would have risked his life to save a group of civilians destined to a concentration camp.

This gallant deed by our Navy personnel hopefully would open the eyes of the critics of the Government's military campaign and make them reverse their opinions. The final push against the LTTE is only being delayed due to the civilian factor. But for the presence of civilians the military victory would be complete by now. This Navy rescue act on the high seas of the North amply demonstrated this concern for civilians. Let those critics judge for themselves.