Red Alert On Green Spaces

Aug 11 2007 (TODAY)

OFTEN cited as being the main culprits in mosquito-breeding, private homes
have borne the brunt of the blame for the dengue scourge. Between January
and June, 2,742 homes were fined for mosquito breeding offences.

However, while the spotlight on mosquito breeding may have been on homes,
public areas, too, have not been blame-free. Some Today readers have
written in to highlight other areas which are at risk, such as open
fields, swamp land, alleyways and other locations not attended to on a
daily basis.

The dengue scourge has taken four lives so far this year and caused about
5,200 people to fall ill.

But there is some good news: Since the end of last month, the number of
dengue cases has dropped past warning levels and has been on the decline,
with 311 cases reported as of last week. As of Friday, 200 cases were
reported.