Repeat Offender Factory Behind Sg Selangor Pollution Shut, Fined

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Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said the factory in Sungai Gong which is believed to have caused the water supply disruption in Selangor has been handed a compound fine by the state government, while his State Exco Hee Loy Sian revealed that the same factory had been fined for a similar offence in March.

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“The factory has been sealed off and investigation papers have been opened against it,” Amiruddin said in a tweet on Twitter today.

Amiruddin added that appropriate action has been taken under the jurisdiction permitted that would likely involve sanction under Federal laws and action by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

Earlier, an exco member for Environment, Green Technology, Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) and Consumer Affairs Hee Loy Sian said a joint operation by Selangor Water Management Board (Luas), Jabatan Air Selangor and his office found that the industrial premise from which the discharge is believed to have been released was a heavy machinery maintenance plant operated by Yip Chee Seng & Sons Sdn Bhd.

Hee said the factory had been fined RM60,000 for a similar offence on the first day of the movement control order back in March.

“All maintenance takes place here. Every time they carry out maintenance, they release black oil which is mixed with fresh diesel oil and this discharge is not disposed of properly – thus it will flow to Sungai Gong,” he was quoted as saying by TV Selangor.

He said the discharge was believed to be responsible for the odour pollution which led to the temporary closure of the Sungai Selangor Phase 1, 2 and 3 water treatment plants, as well as the Rantau Panjang Water Treatment Plant, which remains non-operational.

Yesterday, Luas said that effluents with solvent-like odour from the Sungai Gong industrial area were believed to be the cause of water supply disruptions which affected 1,292 areas in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

Luas said investigations conducted in collaboration with Pengurusan Air Selangor and several other agencies were ongoing.

“Currently, odour sampling is being done around Sungai Gong, because we suspect industrial premises there may have released effluents with a solvent-like odour into the river,” said Luas.

Amiruddin said clean-up works in Sg Selangor, involving the use of activated carbon to absorb odours and pumping 400 gallons of water from a catchment area to dilute the pollutants, have been ongoing since the unscheduled supply disruption started at 10am yesterday.

He also said 78 tankers, 22 jumbo tankers, 54 static tanks, 18 rural service centres and eight public pipes have been activated, and 23,000 five-litre bottles of drinking water distributed in the affected areas.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Dewan Pemuda Ikatan Malaysia (DPIM) called on the authorities to take stern action against the factory in Sungai Gong.

Its chief Shahir Adnan said actions such as closing the industrial premises involved and withdrawing the operating licence should be done so that such incidents will not happen again.

“Today’s situation shows that those who damage our river seem to ignore legal action, probably because it is too light for them, or there is no strict enforcement by the local authority.

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“The closure of the factory for 14 days for further investigation and cleaning work, as well as warning notices are seen as failing to curb this problem. Strict action should be taken so that it does not happen again,” he said in a statement today.