JOHOR BARU: Residents affected by the water supply disruptions in Johor want the government to be more stringent and impose heavier penalties on anyone found to have polluted the water catchment areas in the state.
These residents, who have experienced dry taps before, said it was not enough to just impose fines as these polluters could do it again.
Sahrulerman Abd Rahim, 38, said many Johoreans were forced to endure days without water supply in the past due to the shut down of water treatment plants because of excessive amount of ammonia at rivers.
He said the nightmare kept recurring and many people wondered how come nothing was done to stop the polluters from doing it again.
"It is not enough for authorities to only impose fines or compounds on those who are found to commit such offences.
"They should not be let off with just a slap on the wrist. They will continue to carry out their activities even after a fine or a compound because they can afford to pay.
"The authorities should impose a heavier penalty like shutting down the operation of any business found to be polluting rivers. Better still, ask the operator to move their factory to another place," said Sahrulerman, who lives in Taman Nusa Bestari 2 in Gelang Patah with his wife and three children.
He said it is was a nuisance for his family whenever there was a water disruption as it affected their daily lives.
"The last time the Semangar plant was closed, water supply to my house was disrupted for about three days," he said.
Sahrulerman was commenting on the move by SAJ Ranhill Sdn Bhd to shut down the operations of three water treatment plants along Sungai Johor, namely the Semangar, Sungai Johor and Tai Hong plants, since Friday night following the increase in the level of ammonia in the river.
The Semangar plant was closed late on Friday night when ammonia levels at its intake point at the river was recorded at 2.75 parts per million (ppm), which was higher than the permissable level of ammonia set by the Health Ministry, which was 1.5 ppm.
The situation got worse when SAJ Ranhill announced yesterday evening that high ammonia levels were also detected at the Sungai Johor and Tai Hong water treatment plants, which forced the shut down of the plants.
The Sungai Johor and Tai Hong water treatment plants are located further downstream from the Semangar plant.
This is the third occurrance of water treatment plants being temporarily shut down due to ammonia pollution this year.
The authorities traced the latest case of ammonia pollution to a poultry farm which processes fertiliser from chicken manure located at the banks of the river.
Meanwhile, Norazilah Ab Rasul, 36, said the water supply in her area was disrupted a day after she heard about it through SAJ Ranhill's announcement.
She said she only noticed that the water supply to her house was disrupted about 10 am today.
"I knew about the closure of the Semangar plant, but the water supply at my house was initially not affected.
"It is only this morning I found that the water supply was disrupted. By that time, I could not do anything," said Norazilah, who lives in Taman Nusantara.
The housewife agreed that more stringent action should taken against those who were found polluting the water sources.
"These polluters must be dealt with strictly by the authorities. Action must be taken against them to serve as a lesson to others not to pollute our rivers," said Norazilah.