..to move into Accra - Quaye
Accra, Feb. 22, GNA - Sheikh Ibrahim C. Quaye, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, on Thursday said mosquitoes did not need his permission, visa or ticket to fly from one region of the country to another even though efforts are being made to bring down the cases of malaria in the country.

He said so long as there are breeding grounds for mosquitoes, "they can be carried miles into any territory even to Europe and America. Consequently, we cannot control the influx of mosquitoes into the Greater Accra Region."

Sheikh Quaye, who was greeted with shouts of "odomus', "odomus", "its big ooooo", by members in the House, was responding to a question by Mr Alfred Kwame Agbesi, NDC-Ashaiman on what steps the Regional Minister had taken to control the influx of mosquitoes into the region so as to bring malaria in Accra, Tema and its environs.

Sheikh Quaye said one sure way of reducing the menace was to ensure that drains are cleaned regularly and that no stagnant water exists to act as breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

He said science had shown that tropical mosquitoes bred continuously unless development is interrupted for lack of water. "It is in this direction that district assemblies have been encouraged to construct more drains in many residential areas and they are also encouraged to clean the drains as often as possible."

The Regional Minister said lack of public cooperation against indiscriminate throwing of refuse into the drains have affected the effectiveness of the district assemblies' efforts.

He said he had on his own, from the common fund, started a programme on malaria prevention in the Greater Accra Region in 2001 "The success of this initiative saw the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council approaching donor and corporate bodies for support in the anti-malaria fight."

The Ministry, he noted, recently took delivery of 8,072 treated mosquito nets from the Japanese Embassy aimed at preventing mosquitoes from attacking the poor and vulnerable including students and children. Sheikh Quaye said a number of schools, hospitals, clinics and homes for the aged have been selected to benefit, based on their location and vulnerability to attacks.

On how the nets can be distributed, the Minister said stringent efforts are in place to ensure that the nets go to the right and needy people.

The House later adopted the Report of the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation on the Local Government (Afram Plains District Assembly) (Amendment) Regulations, 206 (L I 1826). It also adopted the Report of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Gender and Children Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa in Maputo on July 11, 2003.