LENGGONG: The Mineral and Geoscience Department and the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) will conduct a detailed study to identify the sources of pollution in Sungai Rui in Gerik.
Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar said the department had set up a task force to identify solutions to the pollution in the river by regularly sampling water at several pre-determined locations.
He said the department would provide location and mapping data on mining, logging, agriculture, industrial activities as well as Perak Water Board water treatment plants and water wells in Hulu Perak.
“The results will be known at least a week after the completion of the study and we do not want to point fingers at any one party without identifying in detail the causes of the pollution,” he said.
Jayakumar was speaking to reporters after visiting a Eucalyptus farm in Bukit Sapi here, with Forestry Department director-general Datuk Akhirrudin Mahmud and several foreign envoys.
Commenting further, Jayakumar said the river was a raw water source for the Air Ganda water treatment plant which supplied water to 1,000 villages, with a capacity of 0.68 million litres per day.
He said Klian Intan in Hulu Perak had been identified as an area rich in minerals such as tin and sulfide minerals such as ‘arsenopyrite’ and ‘pyrite’, and any mining or land clearing activities could lead to a natural acidic reaction, which in turn releases heavy metals such as arsenic, iron, lead, zinc and nickel into the water.
On Thursday, Perak Education, Technology, Science and Environmental Committee chairman Dr Abdul Aziz Bari said based on recent tests by the department, the pollution of the river was believed to be due to high arsenic content. - Bernama