Foul play possibly involved in Sg Selangor incident, says MB

SHAH ALAM – Foul play may be involved in the Sg Selangor odour pollution incident, said Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari today, adding some quarters were “unhappy” with the state government’s efforts to solve the frequently occurring problem.

Amirudin said he suspects the culprits are familiar with the enforcement officials’ inspection trend, as the pollution of the river is believed to have occurred outside the team’s working hours.

“The location of today’s incident is believed to be slightly further up from Sg Gong, Rawang, which means the culprits who disposed (of the solvent fluid), whether intentional or not, seem to know where we take water samples.

"Since halting the operations of the four water treatment plants this afternoon, our staff has been working hard to ensure that the pollution is contained. I was informed that as of 5 pm today, the odour pollution reading has been reduced to 2 TON (threshold odour number)," he told reporters at the lobby of the Selangor state assembly today.

Amirudin said the odour pollution incident at Sg Selangor was a challenge to the state government, since it had passed the Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas) (Amendment) 2020 Bill during the assembly sitting yesterday.

He said although the penalties provided for under the amendment could not yet be applied to resolve today’s odour pollution incident, other punishments under other acts could be imposed on the culprits, such as those under Environmental Quality Act 1974.

Speaking on the Luas (Amendment) 2020 Bill, Amirudin said it would be gazetted after being signed by the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, or a month from the date of the state assembly’s approval.

The amendments in the bill include making water pollution due to odour and taste an offence, raising the fine to a minimum of RM200,000, up to RM1 million, making imprisonment mandatory, authorising the director or enforcement official to make seizures without warrants, making polluters pay to Luas the cost for cleaning up the pollution, and giving Luas the power to offer rewards to whistle-blowers.

Four water treatment plants, namely Sg Selangor Phases 1, 2, and 3 as well as the Rantau Panjang, were ordered to shut down at noon today due to odour pollution, causing unscheduled water supply disruption starting 6pm today involving 1,139,008 consumer accounts in the Klang Valley.

The disruption encompasses 1,279 areas in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling, Klang, Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor, Gombak, and Kuala Langat. – Bernama, November 10, 2020