Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Atiqul Islam has heavily criticized the Plant Quarantine Wing of the Department of Agricultural Extension, for obstructing the purchase of insecticides through a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO).
Meanwhile, one person died of dengue at the Faridpur Medical College Hospital (FMCH) on Saturday.
The deceased Shirajul Islam, 40, had been undergoing treatment for the last five days. This brings the total number of people who have died from dengue at FMCH this year to 10 so far.
“The Plant Quarantine Wing misconstrued a government notice and blocked the import of insecticides. Some corrupt official of this wing made this SRO,” the DNCC mayor claimed at a roundtable on dengue prevention on Saturday.
The roundtable was organized by The Daily Kaler Kantho and Orion Pharma at the Kaler Kantho office in Dhaka. Mostofa Kamal, acting editor of The Daily Kaler Kantho, moderated the discussion.
"People all around the world are able to buy and use insecticides. If our people were able to buy insecticides from the market, they could have sprayed it at households where there are Aedes mosquitoes. But this is not possible because of a vested group,” Mayor Atiqul said.
“It is not an act, it is just a notice. But they spread this notice to customs, to NBR, and everywhere else. For this reason, people cannot buy repellents even though prevention is better than a cure,” he added.
“I think whoever made the SRO should be prosecuted,” the DNCC mayor further said.
Clearance from the Plant Quarantine Wing is necessary for the import of insecticides, as the wing is tasked with testing chemical compounds for possible adverse effects on local plant life.
<Vector control research centre needed to prevent spread of mosquito-borne diseases>
At the same roundtable discussion, experts and government officials stressed the need for a vector control research centre (VCRC) to control the spread of dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases.
Dr Kabirul Bashar, professor of the department of zoology at Jahangirnagar University (JU), said: “The city corporations of Dhaka procure insecticides at their jurisdiction, but dengue has now spread across the country. It is neither possible nor the duty of city corporations to control mosquitoes countrywide.
“The Local Government Department has institutions such as upazilas and union parishads under them. To keep the country free from dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases, the government should establish a VCRC under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD), which will do everything on mosquito control,” he added.
The JU professor further said: “The VCRC should formulate guidelines, take decisions on procurement, use and distribution of insecticides, as well as monitor and evaluate the whole process.”
LGRD Minister Tajul Islam stressed the need for coordination in the setting up of the VCRC, as most of the work it would do requires the involvement of multiple ministries.
