Published: Saturday December 4, 2010 MYT 5:33:00 PM
Mosquito breeders face maximum RM10,000 fine in Johor
JOHOR BARU: Johor is one of the top states in meting out fines against premises found to be mosquito breeding grounds. State Women, Family, Health and Community Development Committee chairman Dr Robia Kosai said until Nov 20, a total of 58,243 premises have been checked and 10,038 have been found to be breeding mosquitoes.
The state health department has issued fines totalling more than RM783,120 to premises found to be breeding mosquitoes. “We have also decided to fine a maximum of RM10,000 to anyone who has been fined more than two times for breeding mosquitoes,” she said during a press conference Saturday after representing Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman at the launching of the Human Values Expo 2010 here.
She added the state had also recorded 11 deaths due to dengue this year. Johor Baru still recorded the highest number of dengue cases followed by Kluang and Batu Pahat, she said. Dr Robia said that the health department had yet to impose the maximum fine of RM10,000 but will not hesitate to do so if people continued to breed mosquitoes.
Dr Robia stressed that the state was constantly conducting awareness programmes to ensure that the community is knowledgeable about the dangers of dengue. She urged the public to clean their premises and destroy mosquito-breeding areas.