KUANTAN: The Pahang Department of Environment (DoE) has teamed up with several agencies to probe into the alleged existence of a plastic waste warehouse facility near an oil palm plantation in Karak near Bentong.
Its director Rosli Zul said the DoE along with representatives from the National Solid Waste Management Department (NSWMD), Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp) and Bentong Municipal Council visited the site today to gather details and assess the situation.
"The enforcement team is verifying the allegations and we cannot issue any statement yet on our findings ....we will have to gather all the required information before providing any updates.
"The operating licence is under the jurisdiction of the local municipal council and National Solid Waste Management Department so only they can speak on it," he said today.
It is learnt that the permit to process plastic waste are issued by the NSWMD within the Housing and Local Government Ministry while the business licence involved the local council.
Last week, Bentong member of parliament Wong Tack spoke about the operations of the plastic waste plant following a visit to the site based on information from nearby residents.
Wong who visited the site with Sabai assemblywoman D. Kamache and Bilut assemblyman Lee Chin Chen claimed the plant with plastic materials brought from Canada had been operating illegally for the past year.
He said Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin has been informed of the alleged plant for further action.
Meanwhile, Kamache said the allegedly illegal plastic waste dumping site was located on land supposedly belonging to the Central Spine Road (CSR) project.
She said the warehouse site located a few kilometres from the Karak-Kuala Pilah main road was also surrounded by an oil palm plantation and alleged that the waste was buried under the trees.
"Based on the labels and information spotted from the plastic materials, we believe the items were brought in from Canada and abandoned here for recycling purposes. However, this is against the law, some of the waste is kept in the open while there are also huge piles kept in the warehouse.
"This is an illegal recycling factory and since the authorities had been alerted, we hope they will order the operator to clean the mess soon," she said when contacted.
It is learnt that the plastic waste site was located on reclaimed land which was meant for the CSR project, a dual-carriageway connecting Bentong and Kuala Krai, Kelantan.
Following the recent spate of environmental contamination incidents and the public outcry that followed, Yeo declared a war on plastic waste.
Last month, she ordered 60 containers laden with plastic waste stranded at Port Klang to be sent back to their countries of origin, in stages.