Dengue prevention

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso can spend public funds for fumigation and the Ministry of Health can distribute informational leaflets on dengue prevention but until there is communal social responsibility, the dengue fever outbreak in Jakarta will continue unabated.

In Kemang, where I live, there are many unoccupied houses. These houses have half empty swimming pools that are neither drained nor maintained and they have become ideal breeding grounds for dengue. When will the government sanction the absentee landlords responsible for creating this mosquito haven? Until they do, I suspect that the four cases of dengue among our neighborhood children will not be the last.

LUCY S. MIZE, Jakarta