NEWS FLASH - NEA, Hong Kah Town Council step up anti-dengue efforts

SINGAPORE:

The National Environment Agency (NEA) and Hong Kah Town Council have stepped up efforts to curb the dengue problem in Bukit Batok.

40 NEA officers have been sent to some 7,600 households in Bukit Batok while the town council upped its weekly pest-control checks to a daily affair.

111 new cases were found in two clusters in Bukit Batok as of 7 September afternoon, up from 99 the day before.

Tan Kin Teo, Hong Kah North Zone 6 Residents' Committee secretary, said: "During our house-to-house visits, we find that a lot of our residents felt that the problem doesn't lie within their own homes. They always point the finger at the construction sites in the estate."

The NEA says that while construction work could be a factor, the majority of breeding sites are still found in homes.

{ News extract dated 8 Sept 2007, Sat from Channel NewAsia }