System installed by MPKj at two hotspots in Sungai Long to control spread of disease

The blowers spray fine insecticide and water mist into the air at fixed times.

KAJANG Municipal Council (MPKj) installed automatic insecticide mist blowers at two dengue hotspots in Sungai Long on Thursday to control the outbreak in the area.

The two hotspots are Evergreen Park Acorn and Hazel which recorded nine cases in the past 42 days, and Evergreen Park Scot Pine which recorded seven cases in the past 40 days.

MPKj president Datuk Zulkefli Khalid said the mist blowers, also known as the Mistaway System, was a new initiative by the municipality in partnership with Sumitomo Chemical Enviro-Agro Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd which was providing the machine and insecticide.“We use the system to control the spread of dengue in areas listed as hotspots for a long period of time.

“The blowers will be set to spray fine insecticide and water mist into the air at 6.30am, 6pm and midnight daily.

“This way, we reduce manpower and save on logistics cost, ” he said after chairing a full board meeting at Menara MPKj.

Zulkefli said it was previously used at Baiduri Flats and Bandar Tasik Kesuma last year after both localities remained hotspots for six months.

“Baiduri Flats was removed from the list of hotspots just two weeks after using the system, ” he revealed.

Hulu Langat district, he said, had the second highest number of cases in Selangor this year as of Sept 12, with 7,723 cases including three fatalities.

“However, it is a 30.4% reduction from the corresponding period last year, which recorded 11,094 cases, including 15 fatalities.

“In Kajang municipality alone, there were 5,947 cases with three fatalities.

“After 37 weeks, there were 134 cases in 10 hotspots, ” he added.

On the issue of stray dogs, Zulkefli denied the claim by an animal rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) that its officers were cruel to stray canines caught.

The NGO’s social media post on Sept 23 claimed that dogs were found abandoned without food or water in two MPKj lorries parked by the side of a road.

It went on to say that no officers were looking out for the dogs, possibly causing the animals to suffer from hunger and thirst.

Zulkefli said the dogs were in transit to the pound after they were caught roaming on the streets.

“The officers had left the vehicles only for a little while.

“We take good care of the dogs that we catch.

“We have a budget of RM50,000 this year to provide food for the dogs in our pound, ” he said.

He noted that the accusation also called for the public to lodge a complaint against the council.

“The officers were only doing their duty.

“We have lodged a police report against the accusation on Wednesday, ” he added.

Zulkefli said the council received 1,515 complaints last year and 950 complaints this year to date on stray dogs being a nuisance, such as chasing and biting people.

“The council has to act. Catching dogs is a tough job and we have tried engaging an NGO to assist us with this in 2014 but the collaboration never materialised, ” he added.

The council president said that after the dogs were brought to the pound, they were bathed and fed.

“Licensed dogs are kept for seven days while the unlicensed ones are kept for two days, after which they will be put to sleep.

“Our actions are based on the standards set in the Local Government Act.

“The council is open to any NGOs which are willing to come forward and work with us to resolve the problem of stray dogs, ” he said.

Separately, Zulkefli said restaurants and convenience stores in the municipality would be allowed to open until 2am, in line with the updated regulations issued by the National Security Council, which was followed by Selangor government’s directive for economic recovery.