Premise owners can get exemptions for workers to do dengue prevention measures: NEA
SINGAPORE — With the number of weekly dengue cases remaining high, the National Environment Agency (NEA) is working with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) to grant exemptions to premise owners to allow workers to return and perform essential mosquito prevention measures during the COVID-19 circuit breaker period.
In a media release on Monday (27 April), NEA said it is urging all owners of premises, especially those for construction and renovation sites which have a propensity for water pooling that allows for larger mosquito breeding habitats, to apply for Time-Limited Exemptions (TLEs) to allow their workers to return and perform essential mosquito prevention measures during this period.
These tasks include:
Ensuring proper housekeeping within compounds;
Ensuring routine pest control checks and treatments are sustained to prevent mosquito breeding (especially at construction and renovation sites, even if these are closed during this period);
Removing all unwanted, water-bearing receptacles;
Covering toilet bowls;
Ensuring drains are free from blockage and stagnant water;
Adding sand granular insecticide or Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) insecticide, or applying anti-mosquito oil to stagnant water bodies that cannot be removed;
Closing windows to prevent mosquitoes from entering.
For further information on TLEs, owners of premises can go to covid.gobusiness.gov.sg.
Dengue cases double that of 2019
NEA said that the total number of dengue cases in 2020 has exceeded 6,000 – more than double that over the same period in 2019. The number of weekly dengue cases remains high, hovering around 300 to 400 cases per week.
According to CNA, there are already seven deaths related to dengue between January and March this year.
Besides granting the TLEs to owners of premises, NEA has also been working with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) to ensure that pest control operators can continue with their work, as vector control services are classified as essential services during the circuit breaker period.
NEA reminds all businesses and owners of premises to ensure that adequate vector control measures are taken at all premises under their responsibility, even if operations may be on hold during the circuit breaker period, which will last until 1 June.
This includes construction sites, offices and commercial buildings, shops, entertainment outlets, nurseries, farms, schools, and places of worship.
Stepping up inspection regime
NEA is also embarking on a stepped-up inspection regime of various construction sites, prioritising hotspots which are located in dengue clusters or have previous record of mosquito breeding.
It has reached out to all members of the Inter-Agency Dengue Taskforce, Singapore Contractors Association Ltd and operators of dormitories, for vector control activities to be sustained during this period.
“As more people are working from home during this circuit breaker period, home owners and occupants are also reminded to pay more attention to any mosquito breeding or adult mosquitoes present in their homes, and to take the necessary steps to prevent or remove them,” it said in the media release.
Under the Control of Vectors and Pesticides Act (CVPA), any owner or occupier whose premises create conditions favourable for the propagation of vectors may be jailed up to three months and/or fined up to $5,000 for the first offence. In the second or subsequent convictions, the owner may be jailed up to six months and/or fined up to $10,000.
Owners who failed to comply when issued with an order under CVPA may be jailed up to three months and/or fined of up to $20,000 for their first offence. For second or subsequent convictions, they may be jailed up to six months and/or fined up to $50,000.
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