Pest control: A worker sprays insecticide on slopes.

The Housing Department has stepped up anti-mosquito measures with special cleansing squads checking public rental housing estates for breeding blackspots.

The four-member squads conduct daily inspection of gullies, surface channels, roof gutters, floor drains, hill slopes and flower beds. Any stagnant water or accumulation of rubbish is cleared.

Preventive measures are also in place to eliminate breeding grounds. Larvicidal oil is applied to manholes, surface channels, roof gutters, gullies and traps weekly or twice a week. Overgrown plants and grass are trimmed monthly or once every two months.

Mosquito catching apparatus are planted in strategic locations at estates in areas with a high Area Ovitrap Index.

Education, publicity upgrade 

Community education against mosquito breeding will be stepped up through promotional notices and leaflets, estate newsletters, Estate Management Advisory Committee meetings and messages posted onto the Housing Channel.

The department reminded tenants that causing mosquito breeding by accumulating stagnant water warrants five penalty points.