Dengue hyper-epidemic not yet under control, PHI Union warns

The Public Health Inspectors’ (PHI) Union of Sri Lanka on Friday said the country’s dengue hyper-epidemic situation has still not been brought under control, warning of a fresh rise in cases amid changing weather conditions.

Acting President of the PHI Union Upul Rohana said that although the situation has shown some improvement in areas where outbreaks were first reported, new clusters of infection are now emerging in other parts of the country.

He urged the public to maintain, and not reduce, current dengue prevention activities under any circumstances.

Rohana noted that light showers had begun in several areas under prevailing weather conditions, increasing the risk of mosquito breeding as vector density is already high.

He also identified unoccupied properties as a major challenge in dengue control, pointing out that houses belonging to persons working abroad, as well as newly purchased but uninhabited properties in urban areas, were contributing significantly to mosquito breeding sites.

Meanwhile, the National Dengue Control Unit (NDCU) said on Friday that dengue cases reported so far this year have exceeded 57,000, with 57,668 infections and 35 deaths recorded countrywide.

The NDCU said 1,253 new cases were reported within the past 24 hours alone.District-wise, Colombo has recorded 11,811 cases so far this year, while Gampaha has reported 11,443 cases, making them the two most affected districts.

The Court of Appeal on Friday dismissed a revision application filed by Yoshitha Rajapaksa in connection with the money laundering case popularly known as the “Menik Malla” case.

The application challenged a ruling of the Colombo High Court, which had earlier rejected a preliminary objection raised by the defence during trial proceedings.

The judgment was delivered by a bench comprising Justices Amal Ranaraja and Sumudu Premachandra.

The Electricity Consumers’ Association yesterday urged the government to pass on to electricity consumers the savings resulting from the recent reduction in diesel prices, claiming that the lower fuel cost would save more than Rs. 60 million a day in electricity generation.

Association Secretary Sanjeewa Dhammika said that with the price of a litre of diesel reduced by Rs. 25 under the latest fuel price revision, the cost of generating electricity would decline by approximately Rs. 62 million per day, or more than Rs. 600 million over 10 days.

He also called on the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) to intervene immediately to ensure that these savings are passed on to electricity consumers.

Dhammika said: “On average, around 2,500 metric tonnes of fuel are used daily for electricity generation. This includes diesel, fuel oil and naphtha.

“That translates into approximately 2.5 million litres of fuel being consumed each day. If the price of a litre falls by Rs. 25, the daily saving amounts to Rs. 62.5 million, or more than Rs. 60 million. Over a month, the saving would be around Rs. 1.875 billion. Therefore, these benefits should be passed on to electricity consumers without delay. The PUCSL must intervene immediately to ensure consumers receive this relief.”

Dhammika also questioned why the prices of naphtha and fuel oil had not been revised when diesel prices were reduced.

“If diesel prices have been reduced by Rs. 25 per litre, there is reason to believe that the prices of naphtha and fuel oil should have declined by an even greater margin. The government should immediately explain the basis on which those prices were left unchanged,” he said.

He further noted that the government’s “A Prosperous Country – A Beautiful Life” policy statement had pledged to adopt a transparent fuel pricing formula and questioned why that commitment had not yet been implemented.

By Anuradha Hiripitiyage