City wants to reprimand embassies

City wants to reprimand embassies

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta administration asked the central government on
Tuesday to urge embassies in the capital to cooperate in efforts
to curb a dengue fever outbreak.

"Since the central government, in this case the Ministry of
Health, has declared that the spread of dengue fever has reached
an alarming level, the authority to reprimand the embassies is in
the hands of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Central Jakarta
Mayor Muhayat told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Central Jakarta hosts many of the embassies in the capital.

Governor Sutiyoso earlier complained that many embassies were
reluctant to join the administration's efforts to fight the
dengue outbreak.

"I have received reports that some state officials also
refused to open their doors when our officers came to fumigate or
make door-to-door checks," the governor remarked.

Sutiyoso said such a lack of cooperation was a violation of
Law No. 4/1984 on communicable diseases, which calls for a
maximum punishment of one year in prison and/or a Rp 1 million
(US$112) fine for those who impede the government's efforts to
fight disease outbreaks.

The administration has deployed health officers to fumigate
areas where dengue fever cases have been reported, and to
disseminate information on dengue and go door-to-door to check
that residents are taking preventative measures to stop the
spread of the disease.

Fumigation is necessary to kill the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
that transmit the dengue fever virus. Preventive measures,
including covering, cleaning and burying all items that could
hold standing water, are meant to stop the mosquito from breeding
and kill the larvae.

Sutiyoso slammed those who had failed to cooperate with the
administration's efforts to fight the outbreak, saying they put
the whole operation in jeopardy.

"If this lack of cooperation continues, we will drag them into
court," he said.

The dengue fever outbreak is expected to continue for the next
three months. So far, 18 people have died of the disease.

The central government announced an extraordinary occurrence
of dengue fever in 12 provinces and allocated Rp 500 million in
cash and medicine for each of the local administrations.

A report from the health ministry said at least 5,500 people
across the country had contracted dengue fever since January,
with 120 deaths.