Jail river polluters, CAP urges Putrajaya

Department of Environment officers checking a stream in Mantin recently to check on the source of pollutants. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: A consumer group has called for a mandatory jail sentence to be imposed on those convicted of polluting rivers.

Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) president Mohideen Abdul Kader said over eight million people in the Klang Valley had been affected by such pollution throughout this year.

He said water sources are highly vulnerable to pollution and sabotage.

This year alone, it had led to four unscheduled shutdowns of treatment plants, he added.

Earlier this week, more than a million people were affected when odour pollution caused the Sungai Semenyih water treatment plant to close.

Mohideen said none of the culprits responsible for contaminating the river had been hauled to court, even though in one instance, a sand mining company had been identified.

“The government should not hesitate to take stern action on those found guilty,” he said in a statement.

Apart from a mandatory jail sentence, Mohideen said polluters should be slapped with a hefty fine and made to bear the cost of cleaning up the pollution.

He also suggested that the operating licences of factories, which had contributed to the river pollution, be suspended for five years.

Mohideen went on to attribute the river pollution to the lack of protection of water sources over the decades, leading to several hundred factories being sited along the river.

He urged the government to relocate manufacturing and commercial activities away from rivers and have such sites “patrolled 24/7”.

“Contaminating water supply is equivalent to a criminal offence. They are poisoning the population and causing extreme inconvenience to everyone affected as they have to collect water for their daily consumption from other sources.

“The culprits should be taught that crime does not pay.” - FMT