Name N Shame

PUB? - Straits Times (12 June 2007) - Drain (outside NUS Law along Bt Timah Rd) still choked despite calling NEA, PUB

2007-06-12T10:31:00.000+08:00

Straits Times (12 June 2007) - Ltr: Drain still choked despite calling NEA, PUB

http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_128318.html

June 12, 2007

Drain still choked despite calling NEA, PUB

DENGUE cases have been on the rise in the past few weeks and the National Environment Agency (NEA) has been sending pamphlets to households, reminding residents to do their part in preventing mosquito breeding.

However, I have noticed a rather-alarming scene along Bukit Timah Road, where a roadside drain outside the NUS Law Faculty has been choked with weeds for the past few months, resulting in water stagnating in the drain.

I called the NEA hotline and was told that PUB Waterworks, which was responsible for maintaining the drain, would be notified. I made the call in the beginning of May, but nothing was done after a few weeks.

When I called the NEA hotline again, I was told that PUB Waterworks had been informed, and was given its telephone number so that I could remind it personally.

Upon calling the PUB, an officer told me that he would inspect the drain that day.

However, a few weeks have passed, the weeds have not been cleared and the drain is still choked.If residents have been told to do their part against mosquito breeding, shouldn't government agencies, which are responsible for taking care of public areas, set an example by doing their part as well?

Cheong Sooi Peng (Mdm)

PUB/Boon Lay Drive - TNP (6June07) - 100m of drain found clogged in dengue hotspot. PUB slaps maintenance contractor with demerit points

2007-06-08T11:34:00.000+08:00

"Name And Shame" culprits breeding mosquitoes?

To: NEA
cc: REACH

7 June 2007

I believe Ms Kaur has been highlighting this stretch of drain since months
ago but the situation does not seem to have improved, despite the heightened
dengue risk in recent months.

Rgds
============================================
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2007 08:00:04 -0800 (PST)

From: Swarni Kaur <>Subject: drains near parc vista and boon lay driveTo: YAP_KHENG_GUAN@PUB.GOV.SG, jenlee@sph.com.sg, S_Satish_APPOO@nea.gov.sg,Contact_NEA@nea.gov.sgCC: tckhoo@pub.gov.sg, lee_yuen_hee@nea.gov.sg, denguealert@yahoo.com
see photo of choked drains outside parc vista condo and boon lay drive.
these photo are taken on 7th Jan.
========================================

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,132314-1181167140,00.html?

DANGER DRAIN
100m of drain found clogged in dengue hotspot. PUB slaps maintenance contractor with demerit points
DENGUE cases are on the rise, and we have to stop the mozzies from breeding.
By Teh Jen Lee
06 June 2007
DENGUE cases are on the rise, and we have to stop the mozzies from breeding.
But last week, the drains along Boon Lay Drive were clogged and full of stagnant water.
When The New Paper went down to investigate, we found at least 100 metres of the drain along one side of the road blocked with sand, leaves and trash. There was some clogging of the drain on the other side too.
No mosquito larva could be seen, though the water was murky.
It was obvious from the stagnant water and rotting waste that the drains had not been cleared for a long time.
Local residents were jittery. Especially as there is an active dengue cluster in the area, with cases reported in five blocks along Boon Lay Drive.
Pointing at the clogged drain, housewife Lim Lay Hwa, 43, said in Mandarin: 'It's definitely possible for mosquitoes to breed in the water. I've heard of seven cases of dengue in this neighbourhood.'
She was worried about her three children aged 2 to 9, getting dengue.
She noted that the drains used to be better kept. 'Maybe it's because some blocks of flats around here have become empty recently when people moved out,' she said.
Said Madam Rosnah Mahad, 42, a housewife cycling past the clogged drains: 'Of course I am concerned. The authorities should clean it up.'
Another resident, who gave his name only as John, said: 'It seems like this area has been neglected. My mother almost died from dengue 10 years ago. I know how scary it can be. I really hope something is done.'
He said the area is home to many foreign students and workers, and more should be done to educate them on the dangers of the disease.
Ministry of Health figures have shown that roughly 30 per cent of dengue cases here involve foreigners.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Public Utilities Board (PUB) are jointly responsible for ensuring that drains do not become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
In reply to our queries, Mr Tan Nguan Sen, PUB's director for catchment and waterways, said its contractors are engaged under a performance-based contract to maintain the drains.
This rewards good performance and penalises shoddy work.
PENALISED
'Under this system, the contractors will have to clean as often as it is needed to keep the drains clean and litter-free, and they will be paid more if more cleaning is needed. However, if they fail to keep the drains clean, they will be penalised,' he said.
'The contractor in charge of Boon Lay Drive and Boon Lay Avenue failed to meet the standards and has been given demerit points, which will affect future performance evaluations.'
He added that the clogged drains have since been cleared.
'PUB welcomes all public feedback. All feedback received will help to strengthen our system, especially as Singapore has more than 7,000 km of drains and canals. The public can contact us at our 24-hour call centre PUB-One at 1800-2846600,' Mr Tan said.
A spokesman for NEA said it will apply granular insecticide to prevent mosquito-breeding whenever it comes across water stagnation in drains.
As for educating foreign workers on dengue, NEA has developed and distributed anti-dengue materials in English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil, Bengali, Burmese, Thai, Tagalog and Sinhalese.
The number of dengue cases reported between 20 and 26 May is 259.
Weekly figures are released every Tuesday. The number of cases for the week of 27 May to 2 Jun will be released at noon today.

Jalan Besar Town Council & PUB? - Fwd: Clogged drains. Good breeding spots? (Sims Drive/Sims Place)

2007-06-06T14:45:00.000+08:00

http://denguealert.blogspot.com/2007/06/jalan-besar-town-council-pub-fwd.html

================================
Reply from NEA:

Subject: Clogged drains. Good breeding spots?
To: denguealert@yahoo.com
CC: Nordin SULAIMAN , PUB One ,Damian LEE , Feedback@jbtc.org.sg
From: Zulkarnain HASSAN BAKTEE Zulkarnain_HASSAN_BAKTEE@nea.gov.sg
Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2007 10:58:56 +0800
DearSir
I refer to your email feedback as appended below
In our recent check on 6 Jun 07 although no mosquito breeding was detected in the drain , potential habitats such as discarded containers found in the vicinity were removed immediately. We had also alerted to PUB to spruce up the road side drains and the Town Council to cleanse the HDB drains.We are continuing our close surveillance of the estate
We will continue to work with all parties concerned to ensure a safe and clean environment and monitor the site closely.
Please contact our Manager of the area Mr Nordin Sulaiman at Tel 68546443 should you need further assistance.
Thank you for your feedback.
Sincere regards
Zulkarnain H Baktee
Manager
Customer Relations, Surveillance & Intelligence
Central Regional Office
National Environment Agency
DID +65 68546408
Fax +65 62739641
======================================
Date: Sun, 27 May 2007 22:21:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: Moonbeam <>
Subject: Clogged drains. Good breeding spots?
To: denguealert@yahoo.com
Hi,
Attached are fotos taken of the drain in front of Blk 52 Sims Place last Thurs (24 May 07).
Sims Drive/Sims Place has been a dengue cluster for quite a number of weeks and the areas have been expanding. There's a lot of mosquitoes in the area, and from the condition of the drains there, it seems as though the drains are the cause of the presence of mosquitoes.Weird that no one has cleaned up the drains yet.
posted by Dengue Alert In Singapore @ 2:30 PM 0 comments

HDB & Town Councils - ST (6 June 2007) - Ltr: New methods and strategy needed to curb mosquitoes

2007-06-06T14:25:00.000+08:00

http://denguealert.blogspot.com/2007/06/hdb-town-councils-st-6-june-2007-ltr.html

HDB & Town Councils - ST (6 June 2007) - Ltr: New methods and strategy needed to curb mosquitoes

http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_126303.html

June 6, 2007

New methods and strategy needed to curb mosquitoesTHE National Environment Agency should concentrate not only on households in its drive against mosquito breeding but also on other areas, such as drains in HDB estates and manholes along roads.Most of the drains in HDB estates and manholes have stagnant water for long periods. They are not flushed or fogged regularly.Unless the authorities carry out regular maintenance, these are real problems. Unlike private estates where fogging is done once a week, there are no such measures in HDB estates.

Lim Keng Hian

========================================================
THE article, 'Dengue situation worrying, says head of CDC' (ST, June 2), is indeed worrying.In an US experiment, it was found that less than 4 per cent of mosquitoes were killed with fogging. The most effective method is to eliminate them when they are in the larva stage in stagnant water as once they are able to fly, it is very difficult to kill them.The uptrend in dengue cases is a cause for concern. Perhaps the National Environment Agency should look at non-traditional methods, and breeding places such as coconut trees planted in HDB areas.

Danny Chua Hock Chye

posted by Dengue Alert In Singapore @ 2:22 PM 0 comments

PUB: Straits Times (1 June 2007) - NEA staff should have told him to call PUB

2007-06-05T16:11:00.000+08:00

http://www.straitstimes.com/ST+Forum/Story/STIStory_124781.html

The Straits Times
June 1, 2007

NEA staff should have told him to call PUB

ON MAY 25, I noticed that the drain along Jalan Loyang Besar (near Aloha Loyang) was again choked with overgrown weed and fallen leaves. I called the National Environment Agency (NEA) hotline to alert the staff to the problem. The officer assured me that she would pass my feedback to the relevant officer.Three days later, I went to check on the drain. It was still choked. So I called NEA again. I was shocked when another officer told me that the choked drain comes under PUB. She asked that I call PUB instead.I called the PUB hotline and an officer promised to have the matter looked into. Meanwhile, the drain is still choked.It is ironic that while the CEO of NEA was making a big effort to declare war on mosquito breeding, the officer manning the NEA hotline adopted a different attitude.It seems that whoever is responsible for the upkeep of the drain has failed in their duty. In the past five to 10 years, I had often been the one to clear the overgrown grass and debris.

Ong Kim Soon

posted by Dengue Alert In Singapore @ 4:01 PM 0 comments

PUB's: Choked and overflowing drain and sum pit at jct of Gentle and Buckley Road - across from Revenue House

2007-06-01T13:59:00.000+08:00

http://denguealert.blogspot.com/2007/06/choked-and-overflowing-drain-and-sum.html

Friday, June 01, 2007

Choked and overflowing drain and sum pit at jct of Gentle and Buckley Road - across from Revenue House

Sent to REACH and NEA on 1 June 2007:

Date: Thu, 31 May 2007 20:05:06 -0700 (PDT)

Re: Choked and overflowing drain and sum pit at jct of Gentle and Buckley Road - across from Revenue House

To: REACH
cc: NEA CEO1 June 2007

Please see attached photos taken at the subject junction on 31 May 2007 at around 1.34 pm.

You will note that the chokage at the sum pit and surrounding drains had caused the water to overflow. But fortunately, the overflowing water resulting from the chokage was not serious enough to cause any flooding around the area.What is worrying is that because of the chokage (probably caused by uncleared fallen leaves, litter, etc..), it is potentially a fertile breeding ground for mosquitoes, given that the dengue is back.Why is it that despite all the efforts that have been put in by the various government agencies (the formation of the inter-ministerial committee to tackle the menace since the major outbreak in 2005), the lessons are still not well learnt?Well, of course, complacency is partly to blame.And perhaps coupled with that, an attitude of "It is someone else's responsibility"? (By the way, is this affected area (public drains and sum pit) mentioned herein the responsibility of NEA? PUB? Outsouced contractors? Who else?May I suggest that perhaps the government can adopt the "Shame and Name" strategy by identifying which areas that have been found to be breeding mosquitoes and under whose responsibilities (eg town councils, PUB, outsourced contractors, developers, individual household residents, etc...) with the correspoonding Corrective Work Order (CWO) of "area cleaning"?I can understand its reluctance (as the culprits might well be its own agencies (like NEA, PUB, MOE, HDB, etc..) or areas under its management (like PAP town councils), but in the interest of public health and accountability, the government should be transparent in identifying who the real culprits are. Otherwise, we will keep having the perennial problem again and again....
Rgds
Jeff
http://www.denguealert.blogspot.com/

posted by Dengue Alert In Singapore @ 11:07 AM

PUB's: Clogged drains at Blk 52, Sims Place (a dengue cluster): Good breeding spots?

2007-06-01T13:55:00.000+08:00

http://denguealert.blogspot.com/2007/05/clogged-drains-at-blk-52-sims-place.html

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Clogged drains at Blk 52, Sims Place (a dengue cluster): Good breeding spots?
Sent to REACH and NEA on 29 may 2007:
Jeff Ho wrote:
Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 21:16:17 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jeff Ho denguealert@yahoo.com
Subject: Clogged drains at Blk 52, Sims Place: Good breeding spots?

To: reach@reach.gov.sg
CC: Yuen Hee LEE LEE_Yuen_Hee@nea.gov.sg , 75557@stomp.com.sg,Alias , ONN Alias_ONN@nea.gov.sg , Aminah YUNOS Aminah_YUNOS@nea.gov.sg , Ann WONG Ann_WONG@nea.gov.sg , Chin Boey CHIA CHIA_Chin_Boey@nea.gov.sg , Dalson CHUNG Dalson_CHUNG@nea.gov.sg , Fung Yin PANG PANG_Fung_Yin@nea.gov.sg , Hameed MASDI Hameed_MASDI@nea.gov.sg , Hui Tiak TAN TAN_Hui_Tiak@nea.gov.sg , Jamal MAJID Jamal_MAJID@nea.gov.sg, John GERIZIM John_GERIZIM@nea.gov.sg , Kahlik ISMAIL Kahlik_ISMAIL@nea.gov.sg , Kheng Seng LEE LEE_Kheng_Seng@nea.gov.sg , Kim Kee LIM LIM_Kim_Kee@nea.gov.sg , Kok Choy HUI HUI_Kok_Choy@nea.gov.sg , Lisa KOK Lisa_KOK@nea.gov.sg , PUB Teng Chye KHOO tckhoo@pub.gov.sg , R Chandramogan R R_Chandramogan_R@nea.gov.sg , Raja CHONNAMUTHU Raja_CHONNAMUTHU@nea.gov.sg , Ravindran NAIR Ravindran_NAIR@nea.gov.sg , S Satish APPOO S_Satish_APPOO@nea.gov.sg , Sara BOH Sara_BOH@nea.gov.sg, Selvanayagam INTHRALINGAM Selvanayagam_INTHRALINGAM@nea.gov.sg, Siti Suriani ABDUL MAJID Siti_Suriani_ABDUL_MAJID@nea.gov.sg, Song Joo LIM LIM_Song_Joo@nea.gov.sg, Subramaniam RAMASAMY Subramaniam_RAMASAMY@nea.gov.sg, Yaacob IBRAHIM Yaacob_IBRAHIM@mewr.gov.sg, Zulkarnain HASSAN BAKTEE Zulkarnain_HASSAN_BAKTEE@nea.gov.sg

To: Feedback Unit
cc: various NEA officers
29 May 2007

see attached email from concerned resident.
Moonbeam <> wrote:
Date: Sun, 27 May 2007 22:21:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: Moonbeam <>
Subject: Clogged drains. Good breeding spots?
To: denguealert@yahoo.com

Hi,
Attached are fotos taken of the drain in front of Blk 52 Sims Place last Thurs (24 May 07). Sims Drive/Sims Place has been a dengue cluster for quite a number of weeks and the areas have been expanding. There's a lot of mosquitoes in the area, and from the condition of the drains there, it seems as though the drains are the cause of the presence of mosquitoes. Weird that no one has cleaned up the drains yet.

posted by Dengue Alert In Singapore @ 12:18 PM

The "Name N Shame" list of mosquito breeders, litterbugs, etc...

2007-06-01T13:43:00.000+08:00

You may forward details of culprits to:

denguealert@yahoo.com or visit www.denguealert.blogspot.com.

Singapore
1 June 2007