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CITY HALL is going the extra-mile to look after the cleanliness in Kg Warisan and Taman Puri Warisan where a high number of dengue cases have been reported.

Kg Warisan Phase 1 topped the “Pejabat Kesihatan Kawasan Kota Kinabalu’s (PKKKK, Kota Kinabalu Health Office’s)” list of 13 places with dengue outbreaks in the State Capital for the week beginning February 2.

The other locations, in order of severity, were Taman Kepayan Ridge, Jalan Donald in Kg Likas, Taman BPL, Inanam Laut, Taman Kuala Manggatal Phase 3, Taman Seni Bina, Alam Mesra, Taman Keramat, Taman Atlanty, Taman Kuala Manggatal, the Malawa Ria Apartments and Kg Rampayan Laut.

A spokeswoman for the agency’s Environmental Health Department (EHD) said, as of Monday, 25 residents in Kg Warisan Phase 1 had contracted mosquito-borne disease. By comparison, four cases were reported in Kg Rampayan Laut, according to her.

“Owing to worsening health situation, we have been cracking down on those who pile up rubbish outside their fences in Kg Warisan or in the common areas nearest to them in Taman Puri Warisan,” she said.

“These discarded objects have the potential to become a breeding ground for Aedes mosquitoes.”

Several members of the rural community and flat-dwellers were chided for such messes during a Unified Anti-Dengue Operation, carried out by City Hall and the PKKK on two consecutive Sundays this month.

The spokeswoman said the village residents were given a grace-period to clean up the verges beside their homes.

“Failure to comply may see them facing legal action, under the Local Government Ordinance (Amendment 2000), with a fine of up to RM1, 000 imposed if they are found guilty.

“Alternatively, the offenders may have to spend up to six months behind bars for allowing the mess inside their yards to become a public nuisance.”

Where the flat-dwellers were concerned, she appealed to the Sabah Housing and Town Development Authority to take a more active role in looking after the cleanliness of the common areas between the different blocks.

“We called on the body to crackdown on any litterbugs among the occupants and to take steps to keep the common areas in a neat and orderly condition.”

On top of the EHD and PKKK, the spokeswoman personnel with City Hall’s Solid Waste Management, Landscaping and Enforcement Departments also participated in the Operation.  

Fire and Rescue Services Department (FRSD) personnel were also present, according to her.

“All those in attendance were keen to get the word out to the local community about the importance of keeping the number of mosquitoes in their respective areas to a minimum”.

She said a 46-man strong City Hall-PKKK-FRSD team worked together with the public to conduct a “gotong-royong (community cleanup)” in Kg Warisan and Taman Puri Warisan.

“Two open trucks each were provided by our Solid Waste Management and Landscaping Departments was deployed to remove the discarded items.”

She said the former also placed a ‘roll-on-roll-off (RORO)’ bin at the village and flats to facilitate this effort. 

A PKKK spokeswoman said its officers worked together with their EHD peers to get rid of any items which could become potential breeding grounds for Aedes mosquitoes at Kg Warisan Phase 1 and Taman Puri Warisan.

“Kg Warisan Phase 1 has been declared a ‘hotspot’ for dengue,” she said. “A locality is dubbed a ‘hotspot’, if cases keep cropping up past the 30-day point.”

She explained that a “wabak” (outbreak) was deemed to have occurred in a particular area if two or more dengue cases were reported within a 200metre radius.

“The outbreak would be considered closed, if no one else in this area comes down with the disease in the following two weeks. Should the opposite happen, then the situation will be categorised as a ‘wabak tidak terkawal (rampant outbreak)’.”

The spokeswoman said no larvae samples were taken from any of the homes at either the village or flats during the Operation.

“Any samples taken are tested at the Health Department’s laboratories. A positive result would see the owner of the premises compounded up to RM500, under the Disease-bearing Insects Act 1975.”