Te Marae Ora (TMO) Ministry of Health officials are out and about doing inspections for the Tutaka campaign and after inspecting 60 homes on Monday morning, they only came across two wreckages which is a big improvement compared to the previous years.

The campaign is an initiative to encourage the public to keep their environment clean and avoid any outbreak of dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and other environment diseases. It aims to keep homes free of mosquitoes, vermin and breeding grounds for other pests.

Cook Islands News spoke to a few of the officials who have been conducting inspections primarily inland, focusing on homes in Tupapa and Maraerenga.

They praised the improvement in families’ hygienic living standards.

Te Marae Ora health officer Nelson Ngaiorae inspecting a house in Tupapa. TALAIA MIKA/24072213

Health protection Officer Ngatamaine Rongo stressed that it was a good start particularly because a lot of people were aware of the campaign and what they needed to be doing.

“Overall, for us this here, I think the applause all goes to the people because they’ve been going the extra mile on cleaning and I think this is the best time ever that we’ve done Tutaka,” he said.

“And the people within their homes made a whole lot of efforts not just to clean their yards but also turned back the edges because that’s where the mosquitoes accumulate.

“And there’s actually no bottles and no plastics and all that and at the same time they accumulate the mosquitoes so I think all the thanks goes back to the people for doing a great job for Tutaka and this is the first time we’ve actually ever had to do Tutaka.

“We’ve had no issues and the records on the island from where we started normally one home, you’re looking at five to 10 wreckages on one property. But so far what we’ve come through and we’ve properly inspected about 60 homes, we only came across two wreckages.”

Te Marae Ora officer inspecting a house in Tupapa. TALAIA MIKA/24072215

Held annually, the Rarotonga Tutaka Programme will run this year from July 22 to August 2.

Key areas of the campaign include: Encourages Clean Properties: Keeping your surroundings tidy and free of stagnant water helps eliminate mosquito breeding grounds; Reduces Mosquito Populations: Fewer breeding sites result in fewer mosquitoes to spread dengue fever; Improves Kitchen Hygiene: Ensuring kitchens are clean and sanitary prevents food contamination and the spread of foodborne illnesses; and Prevents Outbreaks: Maintaining a clean environment helps prevent dengue fever and other diseases before they start.