525 premises guilty of water pollution as of August

pic by ARIF KARTONO

LOCAL authorities have taken action against 525 premises for water pollution offences between January and August this year under the Environmental Quality Act (EQA) 1974.

Environment and Water Minister Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the Environment Department’s latest figures showed that authorities had taken 815 enforcement actions.

These included 224 written notices, 517 compounds worth RM1.03 million, 20 equipment seizures, six revocations of licenses and 48 investigation papers for cases to be referred to court.

Over the six months, 39 premises were found guilty of offences under the EQA 1974 by the court and have been ordered to pay penalties worth RM1.05 million in total, the minister said in a recent parliamentary written reply.

“The enforcement actions taken by the regulator underscored the government’s commitment to punish wrongdoers,” Tuan Ibrahim said.

He was responding to Senator Idris Ahmad who asked the minister to state the number of factories that have been prosecuted for dumping contaminants into the river and the value of fines imposed on such factory operators from January to August 2020.

The recent water outage in Klang Valley had caused a huge uproar online, sparking concerns and renewed debates on industrial activities near local water catchment areas, tougher laws for callous offenders, and vulnerabilities in the water supply network that could threaten national security.

The supply cut was attributed to the dumping of industrial oil by a heavy machinery maintenance factory into Sungai Gong, which flows into a tributary of Sungai Selangor.

The pollution had forced the closure of four water treatment plants, affecting 1.4 million consumers in 1,292 areas.

The company responsible has been identified as Yip Chee Seng & Sons Sdn Bhd located in Rawang, Selangor.

Four company directors and a factory manager linked to the workshop have since been charged under Section 430 and 34 of the Penal Code and Section 25 of the EQA 1974.

The company has also received an eviction notice from the district land office, forcing them to clear the land and demolish the factory building within the next three to four months.

Its water and power supply will also be cut to stop the company from operating.

Despite the tough actions taken, many remain unsatisfied and are demanding that resolute actions be put in place to solve the pollution problem once and for all. Both federal and state lawmakers have vowed to beef up various environmental laws to tackle the nagging problem.

Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said the state government will be looking to double the fine for water pollution to RM1 million from the current RM500,000 under the Selangor Water Management Authority Enactment 1999.

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar said the Water Services Industry Act 2006 and the EQA 1974 should also be amended so that heavier penalties can be meted out on polluters.