LUAS, DOE should be blamed for river pollution

LUAS and the DOE should take responsibility of the contamination of the Bernam River which affected 150,000 consumers.

KUALA LUMPUR: The contamination of the Bernam River which caused the water treatment plant in Sabak Bernam to shut down shows that the relevant authorities are not doing their jobs, Energy Consumer Association of Malaysia (Wecam) secretary-general Foon Weng Lian said today.

Foon said Lembaga Urus Air Selangor (LUAS) and the Department of Environment (DOE) should take the blame for the pollution because it was their job to protect the rivers from contamination.

He said the incident had caused 30,831 homes or more than 150,000 consumers to be affected by water supply disruption.

Last year, on Merdeka Day eve, Sungai Selangor was contaminated with used diesel oil which affected more than a million consumers in the Klang Valley.

In February this year, ammonia contamination in Sungai Langat caused water supply disruption to about 30,000 households.

Foon said all the incidents showed that LUAS and DOE have not been doing their jobs in protecting the rivers from contamination.

He said all rivers that serve as the main water source must be gazetted as permanent catchment areas and free from any development.

“The Selangor government, the local councils and the DOE must carry out regular inspections on all the premises along the river banks,” he said in a press statement today.

He said stern action such as mandatory jail term should be imposed on culprits who pollute water resources.

“The water situation in Selangor is already in dire straits and we certainly do not want cases like water resource contamination to make the situation worse,” he said.

He added that all stakeholders, including consumers, must ensure that the water resources were protected to avoid any disruption in supply.