Mosquito larvae sites:
Legal action against 2,000 households in WP
Chamikara WEERASINGHE
Western Province Health Services Department has filed lawsuits
against 2,000 households in the municipalities of the Western Province
for failing to adhere to the department's advice to remove mosquito
larvae sites in their homes.
The Head of Western Province Health Services, Dr Amal Harsha de Silva
yesterday told the Daily News, their neglect has allowed increased
insect infestation in the Western Province and the spread of
dengue-transmitting Aedes aegypti mosquito.
Most larvae sites have been detected in the Colombo, Dehiwala, Mount
Lavinia, Kolonnawa, Nugegoda and Homagama municipalities, he said.
"We will not tolerate any form of neglect by households or their lack
of commitment to participate in the Province's dengue prevention
programmes," said Dr Silva.
"Their negligence could mean death to their neighbour," he said and
added that legal action will be taken against those who have neglected
their responsibility irrespective of their social status."
Asked about the responsibility of the Western Province's Public
Health Department to control the spread of mosquitoes, Dr Silva said, he
has about 390 PHIs and they will too face disciplinary action, if they
were unable to control the spread of mosquitoes in areas they have been
assigned to do anti-mosquito work.
"We have got the required consignments of BTI liquid and recently
imported BTI dung, to control the spread of larvae," he explained.
"In case we should find that the mosquito density has increased in an
area, the PHIs in that area will be held responsible," he said.
Asked if the Western Province Health Service has the right kind of
expertise to make use of biological mosquito control mechanisms such as
utilization of BTI dung, Dr Silva said they are carrying out their
vector control operations in combination with the Ministry of Health.
"It was the Health Ministry that paid for the consignment of BTI
dung," he said. Asked about the progress of their mosquito control
operations, he said they were successful in terms of what the public had
to say about the mosquito menace.
"They have said that the number of mosquitoes or the density of
mosquitoes in their municipalities have declined. However, we are yet
evaluate the situation scientifically with various thresholds of
scientific relevance," he said.
Asked if the Western Province Health Service is satisfied with their
mosquito control programme, he said they have been able to control the
levels of mosquito menace in Gampaha and Kalutara.
"The situation in Colombo is disastrous compared to other
municipalities," he added.
"Our programmes were successful because we functioned side by side
with the Presidential Task Force on Mosquito and Dengue Control," he
said. "We are thankful to Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa who
provided us with Police, Army and Navy personnel to carry out our work,
which resulted in positive results," he said.
"The people responded to our request because of the presence of the
Police and Army personnel. This helped us a lot in the control process
in destroying many mosquito breeding grounds," he added. |