Public Health Inspectors (PHI) attached to the ministries of Health and Local Government have so far issued 150 public health ordinance notices to property/land owners to rid their premises of potential breeding sites for the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
Failure to comply with the stipulated seven day-grace period will result in them having to pay the increased fine of $3,500.
Warning that many more such notices would be issued in the coming weeks, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh explained that after the initial notice is issued to a home/property owner, PHI’s would return to the premises to conduct a re-inspection seven days later.
Following this, the property/land owner would be informed if they will have to pay the fine which was increased from $500 to $3,500.
Regulation 27 of the Public Health (Yellow Fever Regulations) 1979, made pursuant to Section 105(1) of the Public Health Ordinance, Chapter 12 No 4 was amended to increase the fine for unkempt properties or any harborage that may become a mosquito breeding ground from $500 to $3,500.
Deyalsingh said prior to the 150 notices which were handed out last week, he had received four requests for extensions.
These, he said, had been passed to the ministry’s Legal Department, “to see if they should be granted or not.”
Confirming that he had so far not granted any extensions, Deyalsingh warned people that a request for leniency was not an automatic exemption from having to pay the fine as this would defeat the purpose of the ordinance and law.
He admitted, “It has to be very extenuating circumstances where the extension will be granted.”
Claiming that there were 70 countries currently grappling with how to eradicate the mosquito population, the minister labelled home/property owners as the “weakest link in the chain” as they had become comfortable living with the pest.
He revealed that in T&T, there were 413 laboratory-confirmed Zika cases of which 230 were diagnosed in pregnant patients.
Deyalsingh said the Government had increased efforts to destroy mosquito breeding sites by focusing on errant home owners who refused to clean their premises as they continued to harbour one of the smallest but deadliest “assassins.”
Stating that the Aedes aegypti mosquito was responsible for spreading Zika, chikungunya, yellow fever and four types of dengue Fever—Deyalsingh added that it was now also believed to be responsible for the recent upsurge in the spread of the Congo Haemorrhagic Fever.
Estimating that Zika would affect one third of the world’s population or 2.2 billion people globally, the minister expressed concern as he said countries that had never before experienced such problems, were now forced to confront the threat.
He appealed to land/property owners that “If you ignore the warnings to clean up your surroundings, the law is there to protect others who should not be bitten by mosquitoes being harboured at your home and premises.”
Deyalsngh advised persons to contact their local government councillor or regional corporation to report errant owners.