KINGSTON, Jamaica— Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced a near $200 million programme aimed at ridding schools, households and communities of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads the dengue virus.

The first element of the programme will see an allocation of $70 million through the Ministry of Education and Youth (MoEY) to focus specifically on the clean-up of schools, Holness told the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

He explained that this will be done by the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), guided by the MoEY.

“We’ve had several complaints of schools that are literally overtaken by mosquitoes and so we’re giving a strategic response in making that allocation,” Holness said.

The prime minister acknowledged that “$70 million is not a lot but if it is used in directed ways and strategic ways it can have an impact particularly if it is used to target those schools that are most affected”.

Additionally, $2 million will be allocated to each of the 63 constituencies for Members of Parliament to lead a community clean-up campaign.

“This will focus on the removal of bulky waste but we also recognise that some of the breeding grounds could be open lots and so there might be need for some bushing to take place. We’re trying not to encourage too much of that right now but it may be necessary,” Holness said, while noting that the island was receiving heavy rains at the moment which would lead to overgrowth in some areas.

Holness told the House that the programme is complimentary to one announced in the House last week by the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton.

Tufton announced that more than $330 million will be allocated to the municipal corporations, National Works Agency and the NSWMA to undertake mitigation efforts as the island records a sharp increase in the number of dengue cases.

Approximately $96 million was set aside for mitigation works through the Ministry of Local Government and the municipal corporations; NSWMA has been allocated $160 million through the National Health Fund to coordinate the cleaning of major drains in high-risk communities; and the NHF will also provide the NSWMA with $75 million for the removal of bulky waste, a source for breeding sites in many communities.

Meanwhile, the prime minister is urging Jamaicans to do their part to rid their households of the dengue-carrying mosquito. Such measures include changing the water in flower pots and vases, punching holes in metal containers before discarding them and, “if you have tyres, as much as you can, puncture them, bore them so that water does not settle”.

Jamaica is now in the midst of a dengue outbreak as cases of the mosquito-borne disease have increased sharply in recent weeks. One death has been recorded among more than 160 confirmed cases. As of September 29, the number of presumed, suspected and confirmed cases on the island stood at 1,117.