GEORGE TOWN: The Consumers' Association of Penang (CAP) has urged the Johor government, the Department of Environment (DOE) and the local government to pay serious attention and take legal action to deal with the river pollution problem in Pasir Gudang.
Commenting on Johor state Health and Environment Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon's statement on the problem, CAP expressed regret that to date four rivers, namely Sungai Tukang Batu, Sungai Perembi, Sungai Buluh, and Sungai Kim Kim, continued to be polluted at levels three and four.
CAP president Mohideen Abdul Kader said this situation was of great concern as the pollution could spread and threaten the environment and the lives of residents.
"The incident of toxic waste pollution that occurred in Pasir Gudang involving Sungai Kim Kim in the past was a tragic event that cannot be forgotten because it had harmful effects on the lives of nearly 6,000 residents, including schoolchildren in the area.
"CAP believes that the weakness of law enforcement and lack of decisive action taken against the parties who are the cause of this problem has caused the situation to become more critical," he said today.
Mohideen said the river pollution problem could be life-threatening as well as harmful to aquatic species such as fish, prawns, crabs and other marine life.
"This can negatively affect fishermen's livelihood.
"Mangrove forest areas where marine life breeds will also be threatened and destroyed if toxic waste from industrial factories is not effectively controlled through close monitoring and strict legal action by the government.
"CAP insists that the Environmental Quality Act 1974 needs to be effectively enforced, and continuous and more frequent monitoring should be done by the local government in all industrial areas in the state as well as locations that are the target of illegal dumping of factory waste, such as drainage and rivers," he added.
CAP requests the Johor state government, DOE and local government to disclose to the public from time to time the status and level of river pollution occurring in the Pasir Gudang area.
"This is so that it can ease the concerns of the residents and the fishing community who are always exposed to this problem," he said.