Dengue ~ the scourge of Selangor

I cannot help but laugh cynically that the government, be it local, state or federal are serious in their fight against the dengue scourge. So much about dengue has been reported in the media recently, but as far as I can tell, most of the blame is heaped on the tax-paying citizen. What are the authorities doing to clean up their own act?

I need not go far to see the extent of lackadaisical attitude of all the authorities involved in ensuring The Rakyat have a safe environment to live in. I just walk out of my house in Ara Damansara, my neighbourhood.

When we first moved in, I voiced my opinion to my spouse loud and clear, that the authorities must be truly blind or stupid or both to allow such a design for drains in Ara Damansara. I’m talking about the enclave of PJU 22 – 30. You can see clearly from the photo attached, that the drains are covered, but not completely. The concrete blocks covering the drains have hand-hold cut-outs in the event the covers need to be pulled off to allow human access to the drain. So far I haven’t seen any human accessing the drains simply BECAUSE THEY CANNOT!



In designing the covers this way, debris continuously falls and flows into the drain. Debris that doesn’t wash away such as sticks, stones, leaves, trash etc. It becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other vermin. Just view the next few photos as I stuck my hand with camera through the hand-hold cut-outs to reveal the ecology in these covered drains.






Then what about when renovations are in progress, and the contractors are irresponsible? Concrete mix pours into the drain, and as long at they can’t see it, why should they bother to clean it? This pic below shows concrete set into the drain, obstructing the smooth flow of water, causing water to stagnate for the propagation of mosquitoes. This drain runs directly under my front gate.



Needless to say, my house swarms with mosquitoes. I hardly ever see anyone sitting out in their garden enjoying the evening breeze BECAUSE WE ARE LITERALLY EATEN ALIVE if we dare to do so. Visitors tell me that I invite mosquitoes due to my plants and water features. My testimony to all of them is that when I used to live in Bukit Maluri, Kepong; I also had loads of plants and water features, yet we hardly suffered any mosquitoes and could sleep with windows wide open sans mosquito-net nor air-conditioning. Drains were not covered and could be cleaned easily to prevent blockages.

We complained to MBPJ and sent them similar photos posted here. We got a commendation letter and a visit from MBPJ for a first hand view of the evidence, that was the extent of their reaction. No further action to remedy the ridiculously designed covered (well, almost covered) drains.

My complaint is not only to MBPJ but to the Housing/Health Ministry, whose guidelines either do not regulate the design of drainage, or if it does, then MBPJ for allowing such a design to proceed when it is obvious at first sight that this sort of drain coverage breeds death and disease.

To end the scourge of epidemic diseases, regulations must ensure loopholes in designs for community development are tightly sealed. The majority of rakyat takes it cue from the government. So BUCK UP please and put some money where your mouth is and end the lip-service.