Four water treatment plants that had their operations suspended after another case of river pollution was detected in Selangor will resume operations in about two hours, according to Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
"Based on the information we received, there is still a thin layer (of pollution) detected.
"We expect maybe in one or two hours time the operations will resume. That is the latest information we received," Tuan Ibrahim (above) told reporters at around 1.30pm after a visit to the Sungai Selangor Phase 2 raw water treatment plant in Bestari Jaya this afternoon.
Overall, he said the water supply is expected to be restored within 24 hours.
Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor), in a statement earlier, said it was forced to shut down the Sungai Selangor Phase 1, 2, and 3, as well as Rantau Panjang water treatment plants after pollution was detected in Sungai Selangor, a source of raw water supply, at 2am today.
In this latest incident, 1,196,457 accounts in 1,292 areas within the districts of Kuala Lumpur, Petaling, Klang/Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor, Gombak, and Kuala Langat are affected. The accounts represent approximately five million individual users.
Tuan Ibrahim said while odour sampling is still being carried out to determine the actual pollutant, initial investigations revealed a similar scent to the previous Sept 3 pollution incident that affected 1.2 million households.
"The smell is similar to the previous case, a solvent-like smell," he said.
The previous incident was linked to a heavy machinery repair company in Sungai Gong, Rawang, and eventually led to charges filed against four board members and a company manager.
The minister said the source of the current pollution is believed to be from another industrial area.
He, however, denied that it had been traced back to the same site in Rawang.
On future plans to prevent the recurrence of the problem, Tuan Ibrahim said his ministry has applied for allocations under the 12th Malaysia Plan for more alternative water supplies, including to increase the number of water catchments along river banks.
Meanwhile, Selangor executive councillor for environment Hee Loy Sian (photo), who was also present at the visit to the water treatment plant, said the state government recently approved RM20 million to purchase drones capable of accessing remote areas for collecting water samples.
The Kajang assemblyperson also said the upcoming state assembly sitting set to convene on Nov 1 would see a tabling of an amendment to the Lembaga Urus Air Selangor Enactment 1999.
The amendment is a proposal of higher fines, of a maximum of RM1 million, for those caught polluting rivers in Selangor.
This was on top of introducing a mandatory jail term under the enactment, said Hee, adding that the state government will also move to offer whistleblowers a reward of RM20,000. - Mkini
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