PASIR GUDANG: Pasir Gudang PKR member of parliament Hassan Karim has reiterated his call for the temporary closure of factories suspected of being responsible for the health scare here.
Voicing his dismay over the “slow” reaction by the authorities, Hassan said he was not discounting the possibility that locals were beginning to lose faith in the authorities’ ability to help them.
Hassan had just returned to Malaysia after an official working trip to the British Parliament as chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on State and Federal Relations. Upon arrival in Johor, he visited several schools, including SMK Nusa Damai, whose students were affected by the air pollution incident on Sunday.
“I am disappointed by the slow pace of the investigation to identify the source of the problem.
“The people have high hopes in the administration to resolve this issue, but it has been 10 days and we still don’t know the cause.
“Right now, only schools have been closed. What about the factories causing the pollution? Why are they still allowed to operate?
“I am asking the federal and state governments to put the interests of the people first.
“Please shut down chemical plants that are under investigation before the situation gets worse,” he said during his visit to SMK Nusa Damai here yesterday.
Two weeks ago, 111 schools, three higher education institutions, 14 private and international schools and 347 kindergartens here were closed after scores of children suffered nausea, vomiting and breathing difficulties.
Hassan questioned the course of action adopted by the ministry three months after the Sungai Kim Kim chemical pollution incident.
“Data on factories that use the chemical (that was dumped) should have been compiled and the cause of the pollution identified. Unfortunately, not only do we still not know the cause, the action plan is also wanting due to its rushed nature, which left Pasir Gudang folk far from feeling safe.”
Hassan called for laws on air quality to be amended if they were insufficient to compel the temporary closure of factories.
“The state assembly can amend enactments, while Parliament can amend laws. We have to do it now before it is too late.”