Housing and Local Government Minister o­ng Ka Ting said today that his ministry is doing its best in the fight against the dengue epidemic, pointing out that this was not its responsibility alone.

He was commenting o­n statistics released in the Dewan Rakyat last Tuesday by Health Minister Chua Jui Meng ( photo ) that more than 80 percent of confirmed dengue cases over the past three years were reported by local councils, which come under the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

In contrast, Chua had said o­nly 7.4 percent of the cases were reported in areas under his own ministry during the same period. Two years ago, the Health Ministry had taken over related functions of more than 50 local councils that have little or no capacity to control the disease.

Follow-up action

Ong outlined the measures being taken to control the outbreak, including increased fogging in residential areas and other premises.

"All local councils have been instructed to step up fogging since last year to prevent the Aedes mosquitoe from breeding," he said.

While he agreed that fogging may not be the best solution, he said this was o­ne means of control. His ministry expects to receive a higher budget allocation this year to purchase fogging equipment.

Ong also said his ministry has to rely o­n Health Ministry records in order to take follow-up action in localities with reported dengue cases.

"The Health Ministry has the medical and patients' records which are important to us. (Those suffering from dengue) go to the hospital to seek help, not to the local council," he explained.

Ong and Chua, both vice-presidents of MCA, belong to rival factions dubbed Team A and Team B respectively.

'Stop accusations

'

Chua has repeatedly urged the public to stop accusing his ministry of not doing enough to curb the deadly disease, saying other agencies such as the Housing and Local Government Ministry have equal responsibility.

In response, o­ng said, "We (the two ministries) are working well in a joint committee to fight the epidemic. We should not separate whether it is your responsibility or my responsibility...we should work together o­n this."

On the Health Ministry report that the majority of Aedes breeding grounds are found at construction sites, o­ng said his ministry has given due attention to such areas.

"The prime minister (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) and deputy prime minister (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) had, at several meetings last year, urged the Mentri Besar of each state to concentrate (attention) o­n such breeding grounds," o­ng said.

He advised the public to take the initiative to keep their houses and immediate environment clean instead of waiting for the government to hold anti-dengue campaigns.

DAP to brief MPs

Meanwhile, DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang will hold a briefing for MPs at the Parliament o­n Wednesday, o­n the dengue epidemic.

The briefing is in line with Lim's challenge to the health minister for a "tell and clear all session".

Lim ( photo ) said he would give a full briefing to MPs about Chua's allegedly irresponsible mishandling of the situation.

Chua had accused Lim of lying about a World Health Organisation dengue alert and giving misleading figures of dengue cases and fatalities to the public.

According to Lim, there were 32,289 confirmed cases and 57 deaths as at Dec 28 last year - last week, however, Chua told the Dewan Rakyat that there were o­nly 11,394 cases and 57 deaths in 2002.

Chua also disclosed that there were 3,410 confirmed cases and 11 deaths this year, up to Feb 22.