PASIR GUDANG: Three pupils, aged between 10 and 12, have been warded from 273 who had fallen sick following a second wave of pollution detected just hours after school started yesterday.
State Health, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman Mohd Khuzzan Abu Bakar said to date, only 101 pupils were referred to the Masai and Pasir Gudang health clinics for treatment.
"The rest were given immediate medical aid and allowed to go home after their condition improved.
"From the 101 who received treatment at the health clinics, 10 required further treatment at the Sultan Ismail Hospital.
"Out of this, only 3 pupils or 4 per cent of those affected have been warded," he said in a press conference at Menara Aqabah here today.
Also present was Energy, Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin.
Yeo said failure to identify the source of the pollution was due to the lack of geographical correlation between the schools where the cases were reported.
"We are still trying to identify and establish the missing link between all these schools so that we can narrow down the probable cause.
"One of the initiative taken is conducting simultaneous air quality checks at all 85 schools in the district today.
"Prior to this, we did regular Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) checks and the result showed everything was safe but when the pupils returned to school, it (the pollution) was back again.
"These are places that showed good readings during our tests," she said.
Yeo said she hoped the results and data collected from today's tests would be able to shed some light into the pollution problem.
"The cause of the air pollution since was difficult to detect as the incident occurred in different locations within a large 13-kilometre radius and there's also no geographical connection to link them.
"Detection equipment including Gasmate will also be mobilised to the 85 schools to check on the specific type of chemical," she said.
Yeo said the latest pollution incident was different from the chemical waste dumping in Sungai Kim Kim reported in March.
"(At the time) We were able to establish a connection between the symptoms and the chemical, unlike the present case".
Meanwhile, Khuzzan said he hoped the simultaneous air quality checks, commencing from morning to 1pm, would provide credible data towards identifying the source of the pollution.
At the same time, he said the Department of Occupational Safety and Health would also conduct inventory checks at all 250 chemical factories in Pasir Gudang to ensure that all Standard Operating Procedures set by authorities were being followed.
"A joint task force comprising Department of Environment, Chemistry Department, Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Pasir Gudang Municipal Council and Fire and Rescue Department will also continue to cooperate,"
"DoE will also intensify monitoring and enforcement at factories located close to housing areas." he said.