Aerial spraying of BTI a gimmick – JVP

No other way to destroy mosquito breeding places on tall buildings – Health Ministry

By Don Asoka Wijewardena

A JVP backed union yesterday claimed that the Health Ministry move to import BTI Bacteria for aerial spraying was just an election gimmick.

All Ceylon Health Services Union (ACHSU) General Secretary Gamini Kumarasinghe said that the BTI Bacteria were capable of killing only dengue larvae, but not dengue mosquitoes. The government was trying to win the provincial government elections by importing BTI bacteria for aerial spraying but it was only a trick to dupe the voters, he claimed.

Kumarasinghe maintained that the government’s efforts to eradicate the dengue spread was flop, because the incidence of dengue had increased during last two months. People, including school children, had been dying of dengue, he said, noting that up to now no effective dengue control programmes had been implemented by the Health Ministry.

When contacted the Health Ministry Media spokesman M. W. Wanninayaka conceded that during the last two months more dengue cases had been detected counrywide, especially in the Colombo District. On the directives of the Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena a Committee comprising Additional Secretary to the Health Ministry Dr. Palitha Maheepala, Additional Secretary to the Health Ministry (Public Health) Dr. Ms. Sujatha Senaratne and the Secretary to the Health Ministry Dr. Nihal Jayathilaka had decided to import BTI bacteria for aerial spraying on condominiums and tall buildings because the dengue mosquito could breed on roof tops of those buildings. As a pilot project, all flats, condominiums in the Colombo city would be sprayed with BTI bacteria, Wanninayake said. The Health Ministry had found that

Tall buildings in the Colombo city were potential breeding grounds of dengue mosquitoes, he said.

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