Chikungunya: 340 Little India shopowners told to remove roof gutters

Lee Hui Chieh, Straits Times 6 Feb 08;

180 have already complied; eight fined for non-compliance; rest ask for more time

THE battle against the mosquito-borne disease chikungunya has moved from the streets to the roofs.

Over the last 10 days, 340 shophouse owners in Little India - the centre of an outbreak of the dengue-like disease - have been told to remove the damaged or clogged gutters on their roofs.

The gutters can collect rain water and become a breeding ground for the Aedes mosquito, which transmits chikungunya and dengue.

So far, 180 shopowners have dismantled their gutters, while eight others were fined $2,000 each for refusing to comply, said the National Environment Agency (NEA).

The rest have asked for more time, citing difficulties in finding workers during the Chinese New Year season, NEA chairman Simon Tay said yesterday.

During a visit to Little India, Associate Professor Tay said most of the shopkeepers were cooperative, as they realise 'the reputation of Little India is at stake', and the outbreak is affecting their businesses.

'We need that kind of ownership. We cannot inspect every single house, we really have to work with them to make sure that their housekeeping is better,' he added.

Shopowners who ignore clean-up orders can be fined up to $20,000, or jailed for up to three months.

Singapore is in the midst of its first outbreak of chikungunya, a viral disease that causes symptoms similar to dengue, such as fever and joint pains.

Since the first patient was reported on Jan 14, 11 others who lived or worked in Little India have been found infected.

All 13 previous appearances of the disease in Singapore were in people who had been infected overseas, and the virus had not spread to others.

Since Jan 14, NEA has inspected more than 4,700 properties in Little India, and destroyed 75 mosquito breeding sites.

It has also enlisted the Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association to distribute its posters and booklets with tips on preventing mosquito breeding in seven languages, including Tamil, Hindi and Bengali.

The association has also been advising shopkeepers to be more vigilant against mosquito breeding.

One of them, Mr K. Nadarajan, 52, who owns four vegetarian restaurants in Little India, has had a pest control operator spray his restaurants with insecticide two to three times a week, instead of only once.

Fewer tourists have been coming to the area, and business has been halved in the last two weeks, said the shopkeepers association's chairman, Mr Rajakumar Chandra.

While acknowledging that stamping out the outbreak would not be easy, Prof Tay said that it has been confined to Little India and 'is still containable'.

'This is not a fatalistic outcome, we must not give up. Singapore has always been known to prevail despite outside conditions. The battle can actually be won,' he said.


NEA fines 8 shop owners
They did not remove roof gutters, a prime mosquito habitat
Jinny Koh, Today Online 6 Feb 08;

IN the first such enforcement action taken since the chikungunya outbreak at Clive Street, eight shop owners in Little India have been fined by the National Environment Agency (NEA) for refusing to remove their roof gutters.

Roof gutters are one of the major mosquito breeding habitats. So far, the NEA has issued 340 legal notices to property owners to remove them but only 180 have complied.

If they refuse, a fine of $2,000 will be imposed for the first offence, followed by $4,000 and $5,000 for the second and third offences respectively, after which the matter would be taken to court.

According to Mr Rajakumar Chandra, 49, chairman of the Little Indian Shopkeepers and Heritage Association, one reason for the delayed response from many retailers could be because they do not own the shophouses they occupy, and thus cannot make decisions about the removal.

Tenants occupy 99 per cent of the more than 700 shop houses in Little India.

These cases aside, however, cooperation between the NEA and shop occupants has been good.

Said NEA chairman Simon Tay during a walkabout at Little India yesterday: "Most have responded but of course there are still people we need to talk to, and they are coming around."

Mr Tay added that the NEA and the association had been distributing pamphlets on prevention tips to educate members of the public.

To date, some 10,000 pamphlets in different languages including Bengali and Sinhala have been given out.

As of Feb 1, there were 12 probable cases of chikungunya fever reported.

The NEA has stepped up its inspections in Little India, with 4,700 conducted since the first notification.

The number of NEA officers and pest control operators involved has also been boosted from 13 to 30. So far, 41 shop owners have been fined for mosquito breeding.

Owner of Ananda Bhavan Restaurant Mr Nadarajan, 52, is going all the way to ensure that his four outlets — he owns one unit and is renting the other three — are kept clean.

He sends his employees for hygiene courses, keeps his kitchen brightly lit and makes sure all unnecessary receptacles are discarded.

"Although we were careful before the outbreak, we are now more vigilant. We don't want anything to affect our image," he said. Business, he added, had dipped by 5 per cent, which is better than during the Sars epidemic when it plunged by some 30 to 40 per cent.

But not everyone has been so lucky — according to Mr Rajakumar, business at Little India is still down by 50 per cent for some.


8 building owners fined for not removing roof gutters
Channel NewsAsia 5 Feb 08;

SINGAPORE: No new cases of chikungunya fever have been reported since 1 February, but Singapore is still not free of the disease.

So far, all cases have been linked to Little India, so work to clean up the area continues.

National Environment Agency (NEA) officers have started fining homeowners who do not comply with measures to reduce mosquito-breeding sites.

More than 4,700 inspections have been carried out in Little India since the first reports of chikungunya disease in mid-January.

A total of 75 mosquito-breeding sites have been found so far. The most common problem areas are plastic pails, flower pots and roof gutters.

NEA has issued 340 orders to remove roof gutters. So far, 180 building owners have brought them down and eight owners have been fined S$2,000 for not complying.

Simon Tay, chairman of NEA, said: "Sometimes we just have to come in and fine people, no apologies for this. This is an important time for us to try to deal with this problem and to solve it."

Mr Tay said one problem is that many properties in Little India are rented out, so tenants are not able to comply with orders, and time is needed to track down the owners.

He added: "We have this resident migrant population in and out, and they will always have some issues. The habits from other countries might be different but we in Singapore are trying to educate them. We have been handing out pamphlets in other languages, really reaching out to them and we feel we will make progress."

NEA is also working with businesses and residents to tackle the problem.

K Nadarajan, restaurant owner, said: "We have taken a lot of steps in our internal housekeeping. We try to prevent mosquito breeding outside and we are hiring private pest control companies to come and fog our premises."

Many Little India businesses have been hit hard by the chikungunya disease.

Rajakumar Chandra, chairman of Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association, said: "The business here has definitely been affected – almost 50 percent down for the last two to three weeks, especially after media reported that it's been detected in Little India, so people try to avoid these places."

So far 12 people have caught the chikungunya disease. There must be no new cases within 24 days from the last case before Singapore can be considered free of the disease.- CNA/so