Now, anti-dengue larvae day

CM praises officials’ efforts to keep disease in check.

LAHORE:

A week after Anti-Dengue Day, Sunday will be observed as Anti-Dengue Larvae Day, said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday.

In a press statement released after he met with provincial assembly members from various districts here, the chief minister he said that he was hopeful that the government, with the public’s cooperation, could eradicate the disease.

He said that he was satisfied with the anti-dengue campaign. He said the public support for the campaign had been a big help. He said that the timely precautionary steps taken by the government had been effective in checking the spread of the disease.

Sharif said that citizens must learn to keep their streets and neighbourhoods clean. He said that there was a need for collective efforts to eliminate dengue larvae. He said that government officials would play an active role in this regard on Sunday.

He said that dengue mosquito breeding sites were being eradicated in order to kill dengue mosquito larvae. He said he hoped that government officials would do their jobs with enthusiasm on Sunday, just like they had the Sunday before.

The chief minister said that the disease was largely under control, thanks to the government’s efforts and the people’s cooperation, but added that officials must remain vigilant. He said that elected representatives should regularly review the steps taken in their areas for the eradication of dengue, while action should be taken against absent staff.

Sharif said that while the Punjab government was “following a revolutionary welfare programme” to raise the masses from misery, “the corrupt, incompetent and cruel rulers of Islamabad” had been criminally negligent towards the issues faced by the people.

He said that “Ali Baba and his Forty Thieves” would soon be removed from power by the people. He said that if the people of Pakistan gave the PML-Nawaz a mandate, the party would change Pakistan’s destiny.

The parliamentarians who met with the chief minister hailed his services to the province and expressed confidence that the government would be able to handle the dengue threat.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2012.