RAWANG: A factory in Jalan Batu Arang here has been identified as the culprit responsible for spilling diesel into Sungai Selangor, and its owner given notice of “the sternest possible action” against him.
Selangor State Secretary Datuk Mohammed Khusrin Munawi said: “We will take the sternest possible action, and we are even looking at the possibility of seizing the land (on which the factory is sited) if the law permits it.”
Khusrin was speaking to reporters when accompanying about 30 personnel of the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) and the Selangor Department of Environment (DOE) and several policemen who went to the factory to seal it off yesterday.
MPS has already slapped the owner with 14 compounds amounting to RM34,000.
Khusrin said the damage caused by the oil spill was incalculable. “Who knows the possible danger caused (by the spill) to places like eateries and hospitals?”
Khusrin said that the Immigration Department would be involved in the investigation carried out by DOE and the Gombak District and Land Office as the factory had workers in nearby quarters.
MPS president Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain, who was at the scene, said the factory owner had been collecting waste engine oil and reprocessing it.
“For some reason, he discharged the oil into a drain that flows into a tributary of Sungai Gong, which is a tributary of Sungai Selangor,” he added.
Mohd Azizi said that personnel from MPS and water concessionaire Puncak Niaga, the main shareholder of Syabas, had gone downstream and traced the flow back to the factory.
He said MPS seized 20 items, consisting mainly of heavy machinery. DOE confiscated two tankers for evidence.
Mohd Azizi said the factory had also been making roll-on/roll-off containers and waste compactors, a heavy industrial activity for which it had no licence.
He believed the factory was illegal because the owner could not produce a licence for any of the business activities.
“The only licence they produced was for the office building itself,” Mohd Azizi said.
Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim confirmed in a statement that MPS had sealed off the premises and that a stop-work order had been issued.
The factory owner could not be reached for comment.
Aug 31 — An illegal factory on Jalan Batu Arang near Rawang was raided today on suspicion that it was responsible for the oil pollution in Sungai Selangor that triggered a water crisis affecting over one million people.
According to The Star Online, several authorities, including the Selayang Municipal Council, police and the Selangor Department of Environment, moved in on the factory and found that it was still operational despite having been compounded 14 times for some RM34,000.
The portal reported that oil from the Muhibbah factory, which manufactures roll-on/roll-off containers and compactors, was dumped into one of Sungai Gong’s tributaries, which flows into Sungai Selangor.
“The owner was conducting various heavy industrial activities on this lot, including collecting waste oil and reprocessing it. They were discharging the waste oil from the two lorry tankers owned by the business,” council president Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain was quoted as saying in the report.
Following today’s raid, the factory will be shut down and sealed, The Star Online reported, pending further investigation on the list of violations it may have committed.
The spill yesterday had forced the closure of four treatment plants — Sungai Selangor Fasa 1 (SSP1), Sungai Selangor Fasa 2 (SSP2), Sungai Selangor Fasa 3 (SSP3) and Air Rantau Panjang — affecting over one million consumers in areas spanning Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur, Klang, Shah Alam, Gombak, Hulu Selangor, Kuala Langat and Kuala Selangor.
According to a Bernama report yesterday quoting Syabas Corporate Communications and Public Affair Department assistant general manager Priscilla Alfred, Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash) had detected the water pollution at 8am yesterday. The plants were shut down an hour later.
In its latest update today, Syabas announced that water supply to residents in some parts of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur was resumed this morning after operations at four water treatment plants were restarted.
“As of 10am, August 31, 2013, a few areas of affected consumers have started receiving water supply again despite a low (water) pressure.
“In relation to that, it is estimated that the total number of affected consumer accounts has dropped to around 880,000 accounts and is 60 per cent of the total consumer accounts in six districts, that is Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, Klang/ Shah Alam, Gombak, Kuala Selangor and Hulu Selangor,” the water supply company said in a press statement.
The company also said that water supply to the Kuala Langat area was now fully restored, but noted that the other affected areas would gradually start receiving water over the next few days.
“Syabas expects the supply of treated water that will resume in stages in areas still affected to reach 80 per cent in three more days, with full restoration in a week’s time,” it added.
SOURCE THE STAR AND MALAY MAIL
