MACC opens probe into Sg Gong pollution after water cuts hit 1.2 mil households

An Air Selangor officer collects water from Sungai Gong following pollution in the river, which resulted in water supply disruptions to some 1.2 million households. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has opened investigations into the Sungai Gong pollution incident that left about 1.2 households in the Klang Valley and Selangor without water supply.

It said it was probing the issue to examine if there were any elements of corruption in the matter, including among enforcement agencies.

“MACC asks for those with information on the issue to come forward and cooperate with the commission,” it said in a statement today.

Two factory workers have been remanded so far to help in investigations into the river’s pollution, which led to water disruptions in several locations in the Klang Valley for four days.

The four brothers who own the factory are also expected to be brought to court this week to be prosecuted under the Environmental Quality Act (Act 127) and the Water Services Industry Act (Act 655).

Sungai Gong is a tributary of Sungai Sembah, which flows into Sungai Selangor that supplies water to the four treatment plants, which had to be shut down when pollution was detected last Thursday.

The shutdown of the four plants – the Sungai Selangor water treatment plant phases 1, 2 and 3 and the Rantau Panjang water treatment plant – disrupted water supply to 1,292 areas in the Klang Valley. - FMT