More Ipoh residents taking part in gotong-royong exercises - The Star

IPOH folk are becoming more aware of their responsibility in combating Aedes mosquitoes and the dengue war, as shown in the higher participation in gotong-royongexercises.

Ipoh City Council secretary Mohd Zakuan Zakaria said the number of people taking part in gotong-royong exercises conducted by the council had increased over time.

“We have organised gotong-royong in 16 zones to date and there has been an improvement.

“These days, we are seeing 200 to 300 people taking part at each zone,” he told reporters after the council’s full board meeting recently.

Datuk Bandar Datuk Harun Rawi said unlike previously, the council had reduced the number of its workers at such programmes.

“We are making councillors responsible for organising and getting people to take part.

“This is part of an effort to let the community know that they have to be responsible for the cleanliness around them.

“We hope to change their mindset towards cleanliness, that cleanliness is not the sole responsibility of the council,” said Harun.

Noting that illegal dumpsites and rubbish piles were also main contributors of dengue, Harun said the council would come up with a schedule to collect garden refuse.

The schedule, he said, would be uploaded on the council’s website soon.

“Starting this year, we have also appointed additional contractors to clean drains on anad hoc basis at places where there are many complaints,” he added.

Earlier in his speech, Harun said the council had identified 41,199 abandoned lots, which were potentially contributing to the current dengue outbreak in the city.

The lots, located within 630 housing estates and 144 villages, were in dire need of maintenance and rid of overgrown bushes, he said.

“The council has created 7,646 files in relation to the matter and up until Aug 31, a total of 2,008 notices have been served.

“To date, 1,234 owners have heeded our directive to clean up their premises.

“Unfortunately, there were 490 others who failed to adhere to the notices,” he said.

Harun added that the council had appointed its contractors to clear up another 284 lots.

“The owner of the lots, which have been cleared by our contractors, will be billed a 15% service charge in their assessment,” he said.

Harun also called on the public to alert the council should they know of any abandoned lots so that it could take immediate action to break the Aedes breeding cycle.