HEALTH Minister Terrence Deyalsingh says public health inspectors have received hostility and non-co-operation from some homeowners when they try to check their premises for possible breeding sites for the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the vector for the dengue virus.
As a result of this, the ministry is collaborating with the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs on the creation of a legal platform to address situations where people are not keeping their homes free of sites which could breed the mosquito.
He made this disclosure at a news conference at the San Fernando Teaching Hospital on July 25.
To date, Deyalsingh said public health inspectors have served 166 notices on homeowners who were found to have potential mosquito breeding sites at their homes.
At a news conference on July 10, Deyalsingh said the ministry will impose fines of up to $3,500 on people whose premises become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
While he was thankful that most of these homeowners subsequently complied with the inspectors' requests to remove those sites and were not fined, Deyalsingh said inspectors have encountered others who were hostile to them and non-co-operative over letting them inspect their premises for potential mosquito breeding sites.
He reminded the media that the inspectors are empowered under the law.
"We don't want to charge people. We just want to encourage people to be responsible. So almost all (166 homeowners) have responded positively, which is good.
"It's not about charging people. But that is a resort that we will use if we have to. To protect people. To protect the elderly. To protect that ten-20 age group in which we are seeing 80 per cent of the (dengue) cases. To protect your neighbour."
Deyalsingh said he spoke earlier in the day with public health inspectors about the inspection of homes for potential mosquito breeding sites.
"We are developing a legal platform through the Ministry of Health which will go to the Attorney General to see what other legal measures can be implemented if we don't get the level of co-operation (needed)."
There are now 509 laboratory-confirmed dengue cases. The number of dengue deaths remains at five.
Deyalsingh responded to claims from some local government representatives that the ministry's Insect Vector Control Division (IVCD) was not operating at peak efficiency.
"On the issue of local government, IVCD is well-equipped and well-sourced to do IVCD's work. We will try to assist local government as far as we can. But IVCD cannot take over the work of 14 (local government corporations)."
Deyalsingh lamented that over the decades a false stereotype has been attached to the IVCD.
"IVCD has become synonymous with spraying. We look to IVCD as a big can of (insect) spray. That is not the mission or sole mission of IVCD."
[caption id="attachment_1098691" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Minister of Health, Terrence Deyalsingh, left and Dr. Osafo Fraser, Specialist Medical Officer,right, look on as Dr. Pedram Lalla, Registrar IVCD, shows membe
