Over 10,000 breeding sites destroyed from Jan to July
A Gravitrap is set up at to trap adult mosquitoes and control the Aedes mosquito population in the Aljunied Crescent and Sims Drive vicinity so as to contain the spread of the Zika virus. Photo: Nuria Ling
SINGAPORE — More than 10,000 breeding habitats were destroyed during inspections by the National Environment Agency (NEA) between January and July this year, half of which were in homes and about 5 per cent in construction sites, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli said in Parliament on Tuesday (Sept 13).
More than 200 sites were destroyed between Aug 27 — when the first case of locally transmitted Zika was announced — and Sept 11, out of the 31,000 premises inspected for mosquito breeding. A total of 2,200 households were fined between January and July for breeding mosquitoes.
As for construction sites, in the first seven months of the year, the NEA issued around 50 stop-work orders and 410 notices to attend court, and proceeded with more than 40 court prosecutions of errant contractors for repeat offences.
From Aug 27 to date, one stop-work order was issued to a construction site at 60 Sims Drive because it failed to maintain “satisfactory housekeeping” and get rid of potential breeding habitats. Orders were also served to four dormitories within the same period with stricter requirements to maintain good housekeeping, check for mosquito breeding, and carry out residual spraying on a quarterly basis or thermal fogging where necessary.
To date, the NEA has forcibly entered 24 vacant or uncooperative households in dengue and Zika-infection clusters for inspection, an increase from 13 households before the outbreak, Mr Masagos revealed. This was done under the Control of Vectors and Pesticides Act, where officers are authorised to do so for public health or safety.
