Mosquito breeders liable for prosecution

• Owner must repair all gutters

By Nadia Fazlulhaq

With the ‘Mosquito Breeding Prevention Act’ being passed in Parliament this week, any person who is an owner or occupier of a premises which sets up an environment conducive to mosquito breeding may be fined up to Rs. 25,000/-.

The Act states that “Every owner or occupier who contravenes or fails to comply with any duty or requirement imposed, shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall on conviction after a summary trial before a Magistrate, be liable to a fine not less than one thousand rupees and not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees and in the case of a continuing offence, a fine of one hundred rupees for each day on which such an offence is continued to be committed after conviction”.

According to the Act, an owner or occupier should repair all gutters, down pipes and drains, empty tanks or artificial ponds periodically and clean them. If not used to close them down, to fill-up, drain or treat with larvicide’s places where water is capable of being collected and stagnated, to fill up pits and low lying areas.

It also mentions that water plants having the botanical name “Pistia Stratiotes” and commonly known as “Diya-Parandal”, “Kondepasei”, “Tel-pasi”, “Barawapasei”, or “Nanayaviraddi” which afford breeding conditions to mosquitoes should be uprooted and destroyed.

Not only individual house or building owners or occupiers, but co-owners and co-occupiers too are liable if they do not adhere to the requirements in the Act.

Local authorities who fail to maintain drains or canals which they are required to maintain, will be found guilty of an offence under this Act and any prosecution for such an offence shall be filed against the Chairman.

Medical Officers of Health and Public Health Inspectors will implement the Act.

Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam, Chief Medical Officer of the Colombo Municipal Council said that the new act would be very supportive in the process of eliminating the mosquito menace.

“Mosquito breeding increases rapidly in abandoned lands, canals, blocked drains and marsh lands and recently there are new construction sites, which have been partially built and left unattended.

Government institutions own most of these lands. We have already sent notices to some of the Goverment Institutions like the Land Reclamation Board, Ports Authority, National Housing Development Authority, Condominium Management Authority, Railways and the Urban Development Authority,” he said.

Dr. Kariyawasam added that in areas like Elvitigala Mw, unauthorized constructions had been put up on drainage lines and drains. These constructions have created problems of maintenance, creating breeding areas which cause health hazards.

While Dengue decreased by 40% in Colombo last year, in the out-stations it has increased by 110%. The high number of Chikungunya patients in Colombo proves that mosquito breeding places in the city too had increased” he said. According to Dr. Kariyawasam, proper ventilation and lightning in a house lessens the chance of mosquitoes breeding.

Dark places encourage breeding he said.

Dr. Kariyawasam said he had only 10 Medical Officers (MOs), 40 Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) and 70 Health Inspectors to oversee over 150,000 premises in the city. It’s impossible to eradicate mosquito breeding without any public support he said.
Dr. Kariwasam suggested the holding of shramadana programmes to clear areas surrounding office premises at weekends or on holidays as a precautionary measure. He said he was hoping to co-ordinate with schools this year, and called on government and private sector institutions to help in the process of creating mosquito free areas.