NAJIB OFFERS TO HELP SELANGOR TACKLE MASSIVE DENGUE PROBLEM
‘Changing the state govt in upcoming election will facilitate this’
THE Federal Government is prepared to help Selangor reduce cases of dengue fever by cleaning up the state, which is the worst affected.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who made the state government this offer yesterday, said cleaning up illegal dumpsites, clogged drains and mosquito breeding sites was under the purview of state-administered local governments.
Najib said he was not surprised by the situation because it could happen if there were insufficient cleaning efforts by the state government, which was responsible for the matter.
“We can help if they are not up to the task. How? Change the government? That will have to wait until the 14th General Election... today (yesterday), we help by doing cleaning work here and in other areas,” he said before opening a National Blue Ocean Strategy, MyBN (My Beautiful Neighbourhood) gotong-royong campaign in Saujana Utama here.
Najib, who drew on Selangor’s dengue statistics, which have consistently outranked other states over the years, said it was not surprising that the state was the “champion for aedes mosquitoes and dengue fever”.
“A total of 40,000 cases a year means more than 100 Selangor folk are stricken with dengue daily. This is not a record to be proud of.”
Najib was drawing on the fact that close to 40,000 of the 71, 892 dengue cases nationwide were recorded in the state until Oct 10.
Selangor recorded 59 dengue deaths during this period.
Najib said clean-ups under the campaign were conducted in 98 parliamentary constituencies nationwide yesterday.
He said all this was done in the spirit of community.
“We can’t be preoccupied with ourselves when our neighbours have issues or our area is problematic, the spillover will affect us, too. We cannot separate ourselves from what takes place around us. That’s why Barisan Nasional is a leadership concept that builds.”
He expressed appreciation to Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar for taking the initiative to offer houses under the People’s Housing Project to those whose houses were torn down by the state government recently.
“We do not tear down houses. We don’t tear down bilals and imam’s homes. We don’t. We destroy the homes of aedes mosquitoes,” he said in reference to the incident that took place at the Subang Airport.