Developers risk court action over dengue

SEBERANG JAYA: Developers caught breeding Aedes mosquitoes within their construction sites will now face court action instead of just getting away with compound fines.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya said they have to go hard on those breeding due to the rising incidences of dengue cases and deaths.
"States with high number of development projects are those faced with this problem," he said, adding developers should take more stringent measures to ensure there is no Aedes breeding within their construction sites.
"We will take the matter to court if their place has been found to be a mosquito breeding ground," he said in a press conference today.
Hilmi said the country recorded a 147% increase in the number of dengue cases for the first two months of this year compared to the same period last year.
A total of 23,630 and 62 deaths were recorded as on Feb 28 this year compared to 16,053 cases and 29 deaths in the same period last year.
Hilmi said Penang also recorded an increase with 1,093 cases and two deaths compared to the 371 cases and three deaths for the same period.
Selangor recorded the highest number of cases with 13,860 so far followed by Perak and Putrajaya.
Hilmi had earlier attended the opening of the state level price reduction campaign by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry.
On the impact of the increase in petrol price, ministry deputy secretary-general Datuk Azmi Lateh urged traders not to use this as an excuse to raise prices.

He said he believed businesses had stocked up on goods when fuel prices were lower and so should not raise the prices when petrol price increased.

He also called upon business owners to hold discussions with the ministry if they felt the rise in fuel prices had an impact on their activities.