• Secretary urges officials to submit allegations in writing 
• PHIs allege pressure from senior officials to avoid legal action against State institutions

The Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government (LG) has stated it has not received any formal complaints regarding allegations that certain public officials are preventing Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) from taking legal action against Government institutions where dengue mosquito breeding sites have been detected.

Responding to queries from The Daily Morning yesterday (19), Ministry Secretary S. Alokabandara said that while there may be incidents occurring in certain places, no specific complaint had been officially submitted to the Ministry for investigation. "We have not received any such complaint or matter that we can comment on. If there is such an issue, and if there is a concern regarding a Government institution, the matter should be relevant to that particular institution," he said.

He further said that any such issue should be communicated in writing to the head of the relevant department, the institution concerned or the relevant Ministry, stating that there was a problem and that proper procedures were not being followed. "Without that, if such matters are only being mentioned here and there, it is difficult for us to identify and investigate them. There may be incidents occurring in certain places. However, no specific matter has been submitted to us as a Ministry," he explained. 

PHIs have alleged that among those attempting to prevent legal action are District Secretaries, senior officials of LG institutions and Medical Officers of Health. They have pointed out that dengue mosquito larvae have been detected at a significant number of Government premises in areas including Colombo, Matara, Gampaha, Mannar and Ratnapura.

According to PHIs, mosquito breeding sites continue to be identified in administrative institutions, including Divisional Secretariat offices, LG institutions, schools, banks and certain hospital premises. They have raised concerns over whether Government institutions are being subjected to the same enforcement measures as private premises and households. 

Attempts made to contact the National Dengue Control Unit (NDCU) and the Health Ministry Secretary for further comment on the issue failed.