Dengue The Threatened

Damansara Heights is a dream residential area with fairytale mansions, custom-designed bungalows and luxury cars, with a community of the rich and powerful.
The serene neighbourhood is cool and pleasant, being surrounded by lush foliage. Everything looks picturesque and it seems to be the ideal place to live in style and in comfort.
But, if you take a closer look at the drains in the area, most of them are clogged, and the stagnant water is a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. Some drains are lined with grass and ferns.
Unhealthy: The drain clogged with mud in one of the houses under renovation
Dr Steven Chow, who is the president of the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners Association of Malaysia, took StarMetro for a walk at Damansara Heights recently to highlight the plight of the residents.
Dr Chow said the drains were unkempt and not maintained throughout the years.
“We have heard of many dengue cases here and the drains are the main cause of the problem,” he said.
Chow said the developments taking place at the area made the situation much worse.
Mud clogged the drain outside a house, which was under renovation at the moment.
“The drain outside a development site was also clogged with debris.
“This shouldn’t be the case. The waste from the development should not clog the drains,” Chow said.
Dengue danger: The larvae can be seen in the stagnant water.
Another worrying site is in the heart of the neighbourhood, with countless mosquito larvae seen floating on the stagnant water.
“Nobody wants to take responsibility for the problem. The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) refers the complaint to the Health Ministry, which then passes it back to the DBKL,” Chow said.
“Nothing is done in the end. We have never seen the DBKL fogging the area,” he said.
A drain in the neighbourhood is not linked to any proper outlet, just ending abruptly with the water flowing into an undeveloped green area. It was also clogged with dry leaves.
“The DBKL blames the people for clogging up the drain. But the local authority is not doing its job in maintaining the drainage system,” he said.
Chow urged the local authorities to buck up in their efforts in curbing the dengue problem.
“A concerted exercise should be launched to clean up the drains,” he said.
Chow pointed out that the problem is not limited to Damansara Heights only, but also other parts of Kuala Lumpur.
When contacted, Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said he was aware of the problem and had lodged complaints with the DBKL.
“In its reply, the DBKL said it is going to clean up the drains in Segambut from February to June,” he said.
According to Lim, the clogged drains also contributed to flash floods.
The dengue outbreak made headlines lately with Selangor leading the dengue chart in the country, with 1,717 cases and four deaths in the first two weeks of this year.
In Kuala Lumpur, the Setapak area has the most number of dengue cases so far this year and last year. Seventy-eight cases were reported this month.
The number of cases in other areas are 60 in the city centre, 49 in Kepong, 45 in Old Klang Road, 42 in Cheras and 12 in Damansara.