'Jumantik' have a tough task

Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"When is our turn for fogging, Bu?," Sartono, who lives in a neighborhood unit of Palmerah subdistrict, West Jakarta, asked jumantik officer Ibu Budiono when she visited his house on Friday.

That was the first day of work for Ibu Budiono as an officer appointed to disseminate information on dengue fever and make door-to-door checks on whether residents had taken precautionary measures.

Smilingly, the lady replied: "Soon ... fogging in the area is already scheduled -- don't worry. In the meantime, Pak, you should cover the water tank and clean it once a week or otherwise it will become a place for mosquitoes to lay their larvae."

"OK, but we'll still have the fogging, won't we, Bu?" Sartono insisted.

Such a conversation reflected the hard task jumantik officers have to carry out as not all residents acknowledge the importance of covering, cleaning and burying all things filled with standing water that could serve as Aedes aegypti mosquito breeding places.

Although the officers work in the vanguard of the Jakarta administration on preventing the spread of dengue, they were given only a one-day briefing a day earlier, claimed Ibu Budiono, who is also lives in Palmerah subdistrict.

It has been two weeks since Governor Sutiyoso promised to recruit, train and send 800 officers to 42 high-risk districts in an attempt to curb fast-spreading dengue fever.

On Friday, the city health agency revealed that as many as 6,209 people had been hospitalized across the capital with dengue fever since early this year, while the death toll had reached 54.

The 18 jumantik officers in Palmerah subdistricts pledged to do their best in carrying out their responsibilities.

"But it's difficult to educate people here that fogging alone won't be effective if it's not complemented by the cleaning of water tanks at least once a week. Their favorite reply is that it would be a waste to discard the pricey water," Ibu Budiono told The Jakarta Post as she walked through the narrow corridor of the next house.

The same situation was also faced by another officer, Ela, on her first day of work.

On her way to inspect houses she discovered that of the 17 she had just inspected, one had mosquito larvae in its water tank.

However, she explained, they were just common mosquito larvae and not those of Aedes aegypti, as the former move in waves while the latter move in perpendicular fashion.

"I've asked house owner Pak Sahono to clean the water tank. He said he did not want to waste the water," she told the Post.

She planned to return to the house later in the day to see if the occupants had followed her advice.

"If they haven't cleaned it by then, I'll do it myself," she said.