Dengue Public Education Drive For St. James

The St. James Municipal Corporation is to implement a $10 million dengue public education campaign which is aimed at sensitising residents of the parish to the importance of eradicating mosquito infestation in their communities.

“Over 120 persons are to be trained and employed for six weeks, conducting house-to-house visits with a view to educating citizens on best practices in the fight against the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes,” Deputy Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Leeroy Williams stated.

He was speaking at a dengue response meeting at the Grand Palladium Resort in Hanover on February 20.

A media launch for the programme is to be held at the Municipal Corporation’s offices on Thursday, February 27 at 10 am.

Councillor Williams said the participants, which will be drawn from the 17 divisions in the Parish, will be given uniforms and identification cards, which will ensure that they are clearly and easily identified as they carry out their tasks.

In addition, some 30,000 flyers, providing information on how to eradicate and eliminate mosquito breeding sites are being printed for distribution.

“There will also be advertisements in the electronic as well as the print media. There will be 17 community meetings across the parish where Councillors and representatives of the Health Department will interact with citizens, imparting information on best practices aimed at eradicating mosquitos and their breeding sites,” the Deputy Mayor further added.

Meanwhile, Councillor Williams informed that the Parish has seen a decline in its Aedes index.

“The St. James Municipal Corporation has one of the strongest, if not the strongest dengue mitigation programme in place – touching every community in the parish’s 17 political divisions,” he stated.

The lowering of the Aedes index means that the number of breeding sites found in relation to the number of premises inspected has declined.

Mr. Williams said the Corporation, supported by other agencies such as the St. James Health Department and Citizens Associations “continue to lead the process” in educating and encouraging citizens to play their part in the fight against vector borne illnesses.

He informed that Councillors have been hosting community meetings, as part of an on-going public education programme in the fight against dengue.

“A portion of the Parochial Revenue Fund which was received by Councillors in October last year was used to train citizens who participated in data collection and public education activities. In addition, four new fogging machines were donated to the St. James Health Department late last year and they were immediately commissioned into service,” the Deputy Mayor stated.

He further noted that in January 2020, under the national clean-up programme, major focus was placed on the community of Salt Spring where several truckloads of bulky and domestic waste were removed.

“In addition, the $250,000 which Councillors received in early February were used to conduct anti-dengue activities in all 17 political divisions, removing bulky and other waste and seeking out and destroying mosquito breeding sites,” Mr. Williams said.