All resources have been made available to combat the dengue epidemic in the Trincomalee district, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday. He also said that the spread of dengue in Sri Lanka could be attributed to various epidemics that are spreading in South Asian countries which has caused a serious health hazard. The Premier also said that various epidemics are spreading in various South Asian countries and it should be considered a regional issue. He added that bird flu is spreading in South Asian countries and millions of poultry had been culled in South Korea.
“We have to be vigilant on this issue as it could affect the tourism industry,” Premier Wickremesinghe said. The Prime Minister made these observations in Parliament yesterday in response to a question raised by Joint Opposition Parliamentary Group Leader Dinesh Gunawardena under Standing Order 23(2).
City Planning and Water Supply Minister Rauf Hakeem who also joined in the discussion said more than 800 security personnel had been deployed in the Trincomalee District to combat dengue that is spreading in the district.
Leader of the House and the HighWays and Higher Education minister Lakshman Kiriella said that when he met the Cuban Ambassador around 20 years ago, he told the Minister that Cuba had controlled dengue commendably when Sri Lanka had failed to do so.
Raising a question, MP Dinesh Gunawardena said that the Dengue epidemic is spreading now. When Dengue is controlled in Colombo it spreads in Kinnia and when the epidemic is controlled there, it is spreading somewhere else. He demanded to know as to what measures the government had taken to combat the dengue epidemic.
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