Plant blamed for dengue outbreak

KUANTAN: Residents of two neighbourhoods near here are blaming a treatment plant under construction for a spate of dengue cases in their area.

Lorry driver P. Paramasivam, 30, who has just recovered from a bout of dengue, said he never had dengue since he started living in Kampung Seri Mahkota 12 years ago.

However, over the last month, his younger brother, his seven-year-old daughter, and Paramasivam himself, have all came down with dengue.

“I think the mosquitoes are coming from the treatment plant that’s under construction, down the road,” he claimed, adding that many of his neighbours along the same row had contracted dengue.

Housewife Rohaya Harun, 32, also believed the unfinished treatment plant was the source of the problem, saying there were not as many cases two years ago.

A check by The Star revealed that the Indah Water treatment plant was being upgraded, and work that started on October 2014 was expected to end on April 1.

Rohaya said she had seen town council workers cleaning the drains regularly and fogging the area.

“But people still get sick. The mosquitoes must be breeding somewhere else,” said Rohaya, who was warded for dengue over the new year.

Pahang Health Department director Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said completed treatment plants were inhospitable for mosquitoes to breed.

However, he admitted a facility that was still under construction could be a contributor to Aedes breeding, adding that a team would be sent to investigate the area.

The department recorded 184 dengue cases in Pahang as of the second week of January, with Kampung Seri Mahkota recording three cases and the neighbouring Kampung Seri Ku recording two cases.

The statistics were based on reported cases from both public and private healthcare centres, although it could not take into account cases where those afflicted refused to seek treatment.

Launderette operator Lam Kai Cheong, 55, said his wife and three kids – aged 10, 12, and 14 – all got dengue within weeks of each other.

The Kampung Sri Ku resident said he had complained to the village chief, but no gotong-royong activities have been organised yet.

Lepar assemblyman Datuk Mohd Shohaimi said the situation was worse than last year, but blamed the problem on shrubbery and abandoned houses in the area.

He said the Rukun Tetangga was planning gotong-royong activities, although no date has been set yet.