Johor sets 2030 target of zero river pollution

The menteri besar, Onn Hafiz Ghazi, said the construction of an integrated hub for scheduled waste would help the state to achieve the target.

Illegal chemical dumping in Sungai Kim Kim in 2019 caused more than 2,700 people to be taken ill, and 110 schools closed. (Bernama pic)

KOTA TINGGI:

 The Johor government has declared war against companies found to be continuously polluting the environment, and set a target of zero river pollution by 2030.

Johor menteri besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi said the construction of the state’s first integrated scheduled waste hub would help to achieve the target. Onn Hafiz performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the waste hub today.

He said all authorities, including the environment department, have been instructed to take stern and serious action in helping the state government curb pollution.

Onn Hafiz said 14 rivers were categorised as polluted in Johor in 2023, before the number dropped to nine the following year.

“This year, we are told that the number of polluted rivers will drop to six. By 2030, we want to hit our target of zero river pollution,” he said.

In 2019, more than 2,700 people, most of them schoolchildren, were taken to hospital after illegal dumping of chemical waste at Sungai Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang released toxic fumes. About 6,000 people were affected, and 110 schools were closed. - FMT