I refer to the letter Dengue Control measures in Subang Jaya pathetic . First of all, I wish to clarify that there are no 'hotspot' areas in Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) areas. A 'hotspot' means any area that has confirmed dengue cases two weeks in a row.

Furthermore, the recent cases mentioned by the writer including the five deaths are mostly in areas outside of Subang Jaya/USJ, ie, Puchong, Serdang, etc.

Basically, there were two big dengue outbreaks over the years that I have been the state assemblyman - in USJ 3 in 2001 and in USJ 11 in 2006. In both cases, MPSJ and myself played a big role in controlling the outbreak. Of course, there were cases now and then in Subang Jaya/USJ.

In USJ 3 where there were two deaths, it was found that the gutters on the roof collect rainwater after the leaves get stuck inside. We requested the residents to clear the gutters and since then, the dengue cases were contained.

Last year USJ 11, became a 'hot spot' for nearly six weeks. MPSJ set up a 24-hour information centre in USJ 11 itself, had house visits (at least 35 times per house) and held an awareness campaign initiated by me. Thousands of summonses were issued. We sent five cases to court for repeat offenders. Many houses that were not occupied were broken into and checked for aedes breeding grounds.

Finally, we found that the covers of water tanks collect rainwater and a certain area under the back exterior staircases of the house also collect rainwater. We advised the owners of these two rows of houses to have their water tank covers changed and persuaded Sime UEP Bhd to demolish the staircases and redesign them so that no rainwater collects there.

Sime UEP Bhd did the work free of charge even though the liability period for the houses had already expired in USJ 11. I spent a lot of time in USJ 11 then. I believe the above two cases demonstrate MSPJ's and my concern over dengue cases. I receive weekly reports of dengue cases in SJ/USJ from MPSJ's Health Department.

Of course, neither MPSJ nor me can guarantee that there will be no more dengue cases in Subang Jaya/USJ. We shall continue to try our best to prevent them. But I would like to point out that the aedes larvae breeds in clear water, and not in dirty and water-clogged drains.

The writer is state assemblyman for Subang Jaya and MPSJ councillor.