One in 10 construction sites breeding mosquitoes

[Darthrevan]

 

One in ten of the inspections carried out at construction sites last year found mosquitoes breeding there.

That is out of some 12,000 inspections that were conducted last year, said Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Tuesday, in response to MPs' queries in Parliament on the dengue situation during the debate on his ministry's budget.

Contractors have been penalised with fines that total $3.5 million, he said.

In the last six months, the Government has issued 55 stop-work orders and prosecuted 26 contractors in court, Dr Balakrishnan added, urging construction contractors to strengthen the environmental management at worksites.

Last year, dengue cases peaked at 842 a week in June, while for the week of March 2 to 8, there were 210 reported cases of dengue fever here.

Dr Balakrishnan said the current outbreak is driven by a new strain of the dengue Type 1 virus, which accounts for up to 85 per cent of all diagnosed dengue cases, as the population has low herd immunity against this strain.

Meanwhile, he added, the National Environment Agency is deploying new tools like gravitraps which catch mosquitoes and their eggs, allowing officers to monitor where dengue-carrying Aedes mosquitoes are spreading.

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/singapore-budget-2014-one-10-construction-sites-breeding-mosquitoes-20

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1 in 10 is actually 10% which translates to over 1200 inspections..and to think that NEA kept checking on residents instead of focusing on constuction sites

[Gizmore]

With the on-going epidemic, NEA should fine these construction companies heavily.