PASIR GUDANG: A group of Pasir Gudang residents has accused state authorities and agencies of failing to properly manage the disposal of chemical waste from the Sungai Kim Kim incident in March.
This, they said, had led to the air pollution incident in the district last month, which saw the temporary closure of 111 schools after scores of schoolchildren fell ill.
Pasir Putih Residents Environmental Pollution Action Committee deputy chairman Mohd Rafee Abdullah said it had reason to believe the recent incident was a result of poor chemical waste management in Sungai Kim Kim.
“The waste from the river clean-up was collected and disposed of, while the rest was buried under tonnes of soil.
“And now, it has resurfaced in the form of vapours, which polluted the air and affected residents.”
Rafee said the residents had conducted their own investigation by visiting affected areas and speaking to those working in the industrial plants.
He said they had photographic evidence to back their claims.
He alleged that a factory, which was found responsible for the Sungai Kim Kim incident, had yet to clear out its premises.
“Even now, after it has been shut down, you can still smell chemicals in the air in its vicinity.
“We spoke to people who have worked with dangerous chemicals, as well as staff of the factory, and gathered information on what could have triggered the recent contamination incident.”
Rafee said the committee made attempts to meet and discuss its findings with government authorities, but had been unsuccessful.
“We cannot go on like this. We are not able to send our children to school.
“Some of them will sit examinations, and if this problem is not solved soon, it will affect their grades.”
Johor Department of Environment (DoE) director Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar said the department would look into the residents’ claims.
Wan Abdul Latiff said it was possible that the factory, which was ordered to cease its operations after the Sungai Kim Kim incident, didn’t follow the abandonment plan properly.
“It’s possible that there are remaining (chemical) materials, including those that haven’t been properly disposed of.
“I will send a team to inspect the site.”
Wan Abdul Latiff said factories that were decommissioned or shut down were expected to follow an abandonment plan to restore the (environmental conditions of the) site and ensure it was free of potential residual environmental and biohazard effects.
“Every premises that is ordered to shut down must adhere to a notice of abandonment (NOA), and a copy of NOA must be submitted to DoE after clearing out.”
He, however, rejected claims that the recent air pollution incident could be linked to “shoddy” clean-up done in Sungai Kim Kim.
He said waste from the river had been transported to a disposal company in Negri Sembilan, which is the only premises in the peninsula licensed under Section 18 of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 to operate and receive scheduled waste for safe disposal.
“We are sure that it (the claim) is not related. However, DoE will investigate claims that companies may have buried their waste around Pasir Gudang to avoid high disposal costs.
“The only problem is that we do not know where these sites are.”
He urged those with information to share the details with the authorities.