The Municipal Council has criticized the Jeddah Mayoralty for allegedly not providing adequate reasons for the rise in dengue fever cases in the city. Hussein Ba-aqeel, Chairman of the Municipal Council, said the council is considering the possibility of assigning a committee to identify the real reasons behind the spread of the disease and to arrange a meeting with the mayor to come up with urgent and practical solutions. Over 200 people contracted the disease in the two weeks ending April. A total of 750 cases over the previous 16 weeks had been confirmed. The mayoralty has blamed a lack of manpower and inadequate materials in tackling mosquito breeding grounds. Ba-aqeel said dengue fever has to be tackled by trained personnel. There should also be an increase in the financial allocations to fight the disease and to work out a long-term preventive plan. Earlier this month, officials from the mayoralty and the Health Affairs Department blamed each other for the situation. The blame-game started shortly after a meeting took place on May 1, involving five government departments, aimed at finding a solution to the problem. The Directorate of Health Affairs accused the mayoralty of ignoring its warning that it should deal with the breeding grounds of disease carriers. The mayoralty replied that the information provided by Health Affairs officials did not accurately reflect the magnitude of the problem, which affected the response to the disease. Bassam Akhdhar, a member of the Municipal Council, was quoted as saying that he held both the Ministry of Health and the mayoralty accountable for the increase in dengue fever cases. He also accused cleaning companies in Jeddah for not cleaning up heaps of garbage in southern and central Jeddah. He said it was a common sight to see the dirt and waste around buildings and residential areas in these districts. He claimed that the emergency plan was “nothing but ink on paper” because it was not being implemented. He also expressed doubts about the authenticity and accuracy of the information provided by the Ministry of Health. He said this alleged inaccurate information aggravated the problem in Jeddah and was a reflection of the weak response to combating the disease. He had called on the Directorate of Health Affairs and Jeddah Mayoralty to stop blaming each other because this would not solve the problem. He said residents were the ones suffering.
