Dr Daroyah stung in dengue debate

Dr Daroyah Alwi (right) and MPSJ president Datuk Nor Hisham looking at various methods to kill Aedes mosquito larvae at an event on March 26, 2016.

SHAH ALAM: Dengue was the most stinging topic at the Selangor state assembly sitting Monday with the Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) report on the subject being debated.

The state government's executive councillor in charge of health, Dr Daroyah Alwi (PKR-Sementa), came under fire and was accused of not doing enough to counter the dengue problem in the state.

Selcat member Haniza Talha (PKR-Taman Medan) urged Dr Daroyah to work more closely with the Health Ministry, saying the lack of cooperation between the two sides was one of the reasons for the spike in dengue cases in Selangor.

"There were 65,168 dengue cases recorded in Selangor in 2015, which was almost 50% of the 120,836 dengue cases recorded in Malaysia.

"The committee found that there was no coordination between the Health Ministry and the exco," said Haniza.

She added that the lack of a specific policy on dengue in Selangor, with the state depending only on ministry policies to combat the outbreak, was also a factor.

Later in the day, Barisan Nasional assemblymen called on the state administration to replace Dr Daroyah for not doing enough to counter the dengue epidemic.

"She is either not capable of handling the state's dengue epidemic aggressively or is giving priority to other issues such as politics," Datuk Shamsudin Lias (BN-Sungai Burung) told a press conference at the sidelines of the assembly sitting.

He said Dr Daroyah was sending representatives to attend some of the meetings on the issue instead of attending them herself.

He urged Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali to make dengue eradication a priority and initiate a task force and a proper plan of action.

In his reply, Azmin said the state administration will not be replacing Dr Daroyah and that the state government will not interfere with Selcat.

However, he advised Selcat not to create doubt and confusion in their reports.

Stressing that dengue is a priority for the state government, he said he had asked Dr Daroyah to give Selcat in writing an account of all that has been done so far and what will be done to curb the outbreak.