29 rivers in Malaysia are polluted

 

Deputy natural resources, environment and climate change minister Huang Tiong Sii said river pollution is caused by chemical waste disposal, livestock farming and mining activities. (Reuters pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: The environment department (DoE) reported that 29 or 4% of the 672 rivers in the country were polluted last year.

Deputy natural resources, environment and climate change minister Huang Tiong Sii said the pollution was caused by chemical waste disposal, livestock farming and mining activities.

The DoE has increased its enforcement and is conducting studies to control the pollution.

“We are also ensuring that all development projects have undergone an environmental impact assessment,” Huang said in his reply to a question from Sh Puzi Sh Ali (BN-Pekan) on river pollution during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He said there are 30 automatic and 1,353 manual monitoring stations for river water quality monitoring nationwide. - FMT