THE sight and smell of dead fish floating at the lake at Taman Tasik Permaisuri in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, shocked many people over the weekend.
Joggers and visitors who frequented the park claimed a foul smell was permeating the area on Sunday morning.
This led them to the dead fish at the lake.
Rahayusnida Roosley, 52, said she saw many dead fish at the end of the lake close to the Bandar Tun Razak Stadium.
She was there with family members jogging when they made the discovery.
“I was there from 7.30am to 9am.
“It’s a landscaped park with ample parking paths and a lovely lake with water features. It’s frequented by a lot of people who jog, walk, do tai-chi and aerobics.
“It’s a shame if the park is not maintained. I hope Kuala Lumpur City Hall will fix it soon,” said Rahayusnida, who posted pictures of the dead fish on her Facebook account.
Checks by Actionline the same day saw some fish floating, but not as many as indicated in the photos taken by Rohayunisda.
A visitor, Shakir, 19, when met at the park, said he saw the dead fish the night before, but did not report it to the authorities because it was late in the evening.
“I was at the park with friends when I noticed something floating on the lake.
“I do not know about my friends, but I saw the fish floating, so I assumed they were dead.
“I figured the park maintenance workers would take care of it.”
Another visitor, who wanted to be known only as Din, claimed that the lake would normally be replenished with fish before fishing competitions.
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City Hall health and environment director Datin D. Noor Akma Shabudin confirmed reports were lodged by the public on the dead fish.
She said City Hall would get to the bottom of the problem and would seek help from other departments.
“We have notified the Fisheries Department to take samples from the lake to determine the cause.
“The Landscape Department has been informed as the park is under its purview.”
“I do not know about dead fish, but usually, when festive seasons come, there will be fishing competitions.
“It could probably be fish that were released for the competitions, but they then died.”
A maintenance supervisor, who declined to be named, said visitors complained to them about the dead fish the same day and some claimed the fish might have been poisoned.
“I received a complaint from the visitors around 8am and went to see the lake before calling the cleaning team.
“I saw catfish with breadcrumbs near them. This is the first time Taman Tasik Permaisuri has faced such a bizarre situation. We removed the fish because the smell was unbearable.”