What is that device again?
Posted on June 21st, 2013

Dr. Mareena Thaha Reffai,

The newspapers have mentioned in a small article,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  on the page before last, (Daily Mirror June 10th, page A13) thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  a student named Miss. Lasika Sevvandi Silva has invented a decide to eradicate the dengue mosquito breeding on roof gutters. Now, with what the dengue menace rising and everyone coming out withƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  all sorts of stupid solutions like ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” no more gutters, letƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢sƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  fumigate the whole island etc. shouldn’t this inventionƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ had ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ taken the island by storm? Not so. What the device does even is not published, not even in the internet. Not a hum about it afterwards.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If it was in another country they would have gone to town with the invention, if it works. By now it should have been produced in millions and distributed in to every household with gutters,even free. But our country does not even give it a second look.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Just like our country. And our leaders. We have simple solutions just under our noses, but will look for difficult, impractical, foreign solutions wasting a lot of money, probably that way the politicians can collect huge commissions.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sometime back another ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ student came out with an excellent solution of tapping all the larvae of the mosquitoes by using plastic bottles cut into two and inserting one part into another, upside down. Simple, effective, inexpensive means. But the success depends on all the people in one surrounding must follow the practice, and avoid providing any other breeding areas, so that ALL mosquitoes lay eggs only within these bottles. Spoken about for a little while and forgotten. Why, Oh, why?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The PHI and the armyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  people were inspecting the houses for sometime but are not seen for months ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” anyway all what they did was to demand a bribe not to report the housesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ stagnated water. While they were threatening the houses where there have been hardly any stagnated water, the large drains outside on the lanes were blocked and overflowing day after day with no one bothering about them. Who is responsible for them and whom to complain and whom to be punished is anyone’s guess.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The one and only method of eradicating dengue in our country is to educate the housewives, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ even if by rewarding them to make sure the environment is free of mosquito breeding. Whatever else we doƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  it will only be a temporary measure.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

5 Responses to “What is that device again?”

  1. Mr. Bernard Wijeyasingha Says:

    Here in the US there are insect repellent sprays. The most well known is “OFF”. once sprayed on skin and clothing no mosquito will bite you or for that matter no bee or wasp either. Sri Lanka should import this product as one method to the spread of Dengue. Even a ceiling fan prevents the ability of a mosquito to navigate itself to it’s target. The government should hand out mosquito nets to the rural population in addition to the many methods already taking place. If this is not checked it could effect the tourist industry.

  2. Mr. Bernard Wijeyasingha Says:

    Other simple ways to repel mosquitoes include: You can make your own mosquito repellant by putting crushed parsley in a jar of apple cider vinegar. Rub the concoction on your skin or dip a handkerchief in it, which you can tie
    around your neck or hat band. When considering your attire for outdoor activities, think white and light as mosquitoes are attracted to dark colors. Mosquitoes are attracted to incandescent lights. For outdoor lighting, considering installing fluorescent lights, which don’t attract or repel mosquitoes. When you eat garlic, especially large quantities of it, an invisible layer of garlic oil seeps from your pores and creates a mosquito barrier. If you don’t like the thought of eating more garlic, you can also use garlic juice to make a natural repellant.
    It’s very easy to make your own natural mosquito repellent. These natural products will effectively repel mosquitoes, but they require more frequent reapplication (at least every 2 hours) and higher concentrations than DEET. Because of the differences between types of mosquitoes, products that contain multiple repellents tend to be more effective than those containing a single ingredient. As you can see, natural repellents tend to be volatile plant oils. • Citronella Oil , Lemon Eucalyptus oil, Cinnamon oil, Castor oil, Rosemary oil, Lemongrass oil, Cedar oil, Peppermint oil, Clove oil, Geranium oil. Please Google on your computer what I have advised before using and also Google on your computer;” Simple home made remedies to repel mosquitoes”

  3. Sunil Vijayapala Says:

    mareena – this is the typical sinha+hela race – jealousy, professional jealousy – no one takes notice of inventions in sri lanka, especially if they come from a minors. a very pathetic situation. the article is based on an invention and the comments falls on existing repellents!
    jealousy is a part and parcel of our race which seem to be ingrain in our blood. the pancha seela should have been extended to cover this evil, one of the debilitating diseases we suffer. our downfall if ever it happens will purely can be attributed to this quality among sinha+hela people. our disunity too can be attributed to jealousy.
    our women suffer in Saudi Arabia and other me countries for the simple fact that when a neighbour’s house comes up in a village, the other women becomes so jealous that she too wants to make money and undergo suffering as a servant in me.
    fundamentally something went wrong with our race this is why Wahhabis have risen their heads up (by the way wahaabis in this forum have simply vanished!) and the thugs rule in our heladeepa. the politician depend on the vote so no more principles.
    a bureau for inventions must be established in sri lanka (may be its there already but dysfunctional as with the case of most institutions in sl) and inventors should be given every incentive to promote their inventions and eventually patenting and introducing them to entrepreneurs.

  4. NAK Says:

    Sri Lanka in the past successfully eradicated Malaria and Filaria, but back then there was no mosquito coil mafia!

  5. Lorenzo Says:

    Well said Mareena!

    This is the BITTER TRUTH.

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