NSWMA leads clean-up effort in destroying mosquito sites

The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) and assisted by the St Ann Municipal Corporation, spent several hours removing bulky waste, such as old refrigerators, from the community of Exchange, St Ann, on Saturday.

Audley Gordon, head of the NSWMA, said the initiative forms part of the entity's drive to eradicate mosquito-breeding sites and avoid the spread of dengue. He said that while the agencies were doing their part, the mission will only be successful if residents play their part in identifying and destroying mosquito-breeding sites.

"Just about anything that can hold water can breed mosquitoes, so I urge people to get out of their houses a little bit, come off their gadgets, take a walk around the yard and see if they see anything -- even a bottle cork -- that can hold water, because once the water settles in it you're talking about mosquito-breeding sites," Gordon said.

He urged: "We just took up a tire with a lot of water and mosquitoes in it, so we're urging people not just to wait on the truck to come, but to do their part at source. Because if we work together, we can solve the dengue problem, because dengue has to rely on water settling somewhere for mosquitoes to breed."

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is responsible for spreading the dengue virus. The MOHW last Friday onfirmed one dengue-related death and three suspected deaths by the virus. The ministry also confirmed that the number of infections has also gone up, with 1,060 presumed, suspected, and confirmed dengue cases, including 132 with the Type 2 strain, which is the dominant strain.