Perak construction sites found to be Aedes breeding grounds - Star

April 30, 2009 By SYLVIA LOOI

IPOH: Nearly 25% of all construction sites inspected in Perak have been found to be Aedes mosquito breeding grounds.

State Health, Local Government, Consumer Affairs, Environment, Public Transportation and Non-Islamic Affairs Committee chairman Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon said the Health Department had carried out checks on 104 sites in the state as of April 25.

Twenty-four sites were found to be breeding Aedes larvae, he said Thursday after conducting a spot check at a construction site at Taman Botani here.

Dr Mah said that to date, six compounds and 18 notices have been issued to the developers concerned.

“I urge contractors to check their sites daily and to destroy any breeding grounds,” he added.

He warned that owners of sites found to be breeding Aedes mosquitoes could be fined RM10,000 or jailed not more than two years, or both.

Dr Mah said that up to April 25, 1,352 dengue cases have been reported in the state this year.

Compared with the same period last year, there has been an increase of 51 cases and one death, he said.

Up till the same date, 189,395 premises have been inspected with 1,218 of them found to be Aedes mosquito breeding sites.

A total of RM98,350 worth of compounds were collected from the 604 issued, he added.