As the coordinator of the jumantik troop in community unit (RW) 005 in Lenteng Agung, Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, Martha is no stranger to rejection or stares from others.

Rain or shine, at least twice a week, Martha and dozens of other jumantik volunteers visit every house to ensure there is no place in the area in which mosquitoes can lay eggs and reproduce.

Jumantik members are tasked with carrying out on-site monitoring to curb the spread of dengue fever, which is carried by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

“In this RW, the monitoring takes place every Tuesday and Thursday,” Martha told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

“We knock on every door, ask for the homeowner’s permission, and then check every spot in the house that contains water like tubs in the bathroom, vases and water containers behind the fridge,” the 52-year-old added.

Martha herself has been a larvae controller for 27 years. Having started as a regular member, she is responsible for managing around 60 members in all neighborhood units (RT) throughout RW 005 in the subdistrict.

“Every Thursday, I, as the coordinator, comb the public areas like fields, parks, schools, markets and many more. On Friday, I gather all members and together we evaluate our work and submit reports with the subdistrict officials,” she explained.

The fact that Jagakarsa is a district with the highest number of dengue fever cases in South Jakarta — and South Jakarta sees the highest number in the city — has quite brought her down.

As of Monday, the city has recorded 878 dengue fever cases. There were 297 dengue cases in South Jakarta, 248 in East Jakarta, 233 in West Jakarta, 57 in North Jakarta and 43 in Central Jakarta. No dengue cases have been reported in Thousands Islands regency.

Aedes aegypti (Antara/Anis Efizudin)

However, the Jakarta administration has yet to declare the outbreak an extraordinary occurrence (KLB).

By the end of January, 813 dengue cases were reported. It was the highest number of cases in the last three years — there were 198 cases in January 2018 and 665 in January 2017.

To curb the dengue virus spread, the Jakarta administration has deployed 33,000 jumantik members such as Martha to 3,200 RWs across the capital.

The Health Ministry has appealed for each household to have its own jumantik.

Martha acknowledged that the most challenging part of the job was dealing with homeowners who refused to have their homes checked.

“Should there be any rejections, the jumantik officers should take pictures of the house and then report them to subdistrict officials. It’s the subdistrict officials who will deal with them,” she said.

Such problems have resulted in injuries to jumantik officers, such as a case in RT 008 where a jumantik officer was attacked by a homeowner identified as Marwan Sangaji on Feb. 2.

The jumantik officials, namely Felicia, 38, and Nur Azizah, 40, reportedly got into a quarrel before the incident took place.

Marwan was reportedly offended by the presence of jumantik officers, accusing them of violating his privacy.

They immediately filed a report with the police.

“When the victims visited the suspected abuser’s house, he refused to have his home checked for privacy reasons. We are still investigating the case,” The Jagakarsa Police’s criminal unit head, First Insp. Sigit, said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Sigit added that Marwan could be charged under Article 351 of the Criminal Code on assault, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Responding to the incident, Martha said, “It was the first incident in my 27 years as a jumantik officer. I hope it never happens again.”

“As I said to Jayanti and friends, we have to keep working, regardless. We’re doing this job for the sake of our neighbors’ health. Be patient, stay strong and carry on,” she laughingly added.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said recently that his administration would cover medical expenses for dengue fever patients in all city-owned hospitals.

“[The city-owned hospitals] will admit anyone who suffers from dengue fever. We’ll treat them without charging them,” he said.

This is part of the city’s attempt to ensure that dengue fever patients receive treatment. Hence, should there be even the smallest symptoms of dengue fever, Anies called on people to go to the nearest community health center to get checked out.