Sacks of rubbish are seen outside an abandoned building.

KUCHING: Residents of Kampung Masjid, Sungai Bintangor Besar and Sungai Bintangor Kecil are reminded to keep their residential areas clean and free from mosquito breeding grounds.

Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) director Dr Morshidi Ahmad said the villagers should do so to curb the dengue outbreak that has occurred in the villages.

“We have told the villagers the importance of keeping good hygiene in their residential areas and raise the level of awareness on the dangers of dengue. Even their community leaders have played their part.

“We are giving them two days to sort this out. But if they are still negligent, we will have no choice but to act accordingly and impose them with a RM500 compound.

“Since this is a public health matter, we hope that everybody will cooperate, especially community leaders and villagers in the aforementioned areas,” he told reporters during a site visit to Jalan Datuk Ajibah Abol 13 here yesterday.

He said 45 dengue cases have been reported since the affected localities were declared as an uncontrollable outbreak area.

“Aside from the enforcements and inspections conducted by our officers, we have also conducted numerous control and preventive measures such as cleaning campaign and fogging.

“In regards to fogging, we can only do it once in every three days. We won’t fog everyday as mosquitos have the tendency to increase their resistance to the chemical fumes.

“Fogging can only kill adult mosquitos, but not the larvae, thus it is better to eradicate the mosquitos’ breeding grounds, thus cutting their breeding cycle.”

He also advised the villagers to report any presence of stagnant water in their village to DBKU for further action.