TELUK INTAN – The Perak Environment Department will take action against an oil palm waste-processing factory in Kg Selabak here on suspicion of dumping waste into Sg Bidor in the area not according to specifications.
Its director Rosli Zul said his department is in the process of taking action against the plant based on complaints received from the residents of the village.
“The factory’s waste management system must be upgraded because although we found that the waste is treated before disposal into Sg Bidor, the process does not follow the stipulated specifications,” he said when contacted by Bernama here today.
Earlier, the National Organisation For Ecosystem Conservation urged the state environment department to take immediate action against the plant, which has been dumping waste into Sg Bidor for the past 12 years, polluting the air and also the river.
“The waste has the potential to pollute the nearby river ecosystems, too,” it said.
A resident representative, Ahmad Fuad Shahrudin, 51, said he had submitted complaints to the environment department regarding the plant’s waste disposal via five water channels around the factory area several times since March last year.
He said although the pollution problem has become more serious over the past year, no action has been taken until now and it is affecting the residents’ income, especially that of fishermen.
“Some fishermen claim that fish and prawn catches decrease – and subsequently, so does their income – after the factory disposes oil palm waste into drains that flow directly into Sg Bidor.
“Besides that, Kg Selabak residents often notice a foul odour from the factory every day. We also experience itching on our bodies,” he said.
Meanwhile, a source at the factory, when contacted by Bernama, said the premises had just started operations in December after being closed since last February due to repair and upgrading work.
He said the oil palm waste was fully treated by the factory.
“We will thoroughly investigate the residents’ allegations on the cause of pollution, which is said to be coming from this factory,” he said. – Bernama, January 4, 2021
