A tax will be imposed on abandoned lands in the Western Province which are not cleaned of dengue breeding sites as a measure to curb the massive spread of dengue, Western Province Chief Minister Isura Devapriya.
According to the Chief Minister, a two percent tax from the land value will be imposed on abandoned lands in the Western Province in accordance with the Local Government Ordinance.
The taxation policy, Devapriya explained was already present but few people knew of its existence as it had not been enforced in a systematic manner in the past.
He explained that a large number of dengue breeding grounds were found in abandoned lands and that the tax could be imposed multiple times if action was not taken to clean up by the relevant owners. The authorities also have power to acquire the land if the tax was not paid.
“I don’t think it would be hard to find the owners of these lands as the commercial value of many lands are high and people will come forward to clean their lands. If the land is clean, no tax will be charged,” the Chief Minister told the Daily News.
“At present,people do not clean the lands they do not make use of and it is the neighbours that have to suffer. At times people also use these empty lands as garbage disposal sites,”he added. “Those living in the Western Province have been encouraged to report about uncleaned abandoned lands to the closest local government authority and in addition, Public Health Inspectors are to conduct surveys on these lands to find out if they are potential dengue breeding sites.
According to Health Ministry Epidemiology Unit statistics,the highest number of cases,34,896 have been reported from the Western Province since January this year and of them, 18,186 were reported from the Colombo district.
The Colombo Municipal Council area recorded 3,221 dengue patients, while the other parts of the district recorded 14,965 dengue patients.