KUALA LUMPUR: A non-governmental organisation has urged consumers affected by the latest water supply disruption in the Klang Valley, stemming from a pollution incident at a Sungai Semenyih tributary, to file a class action lawsuit against all responsible parties.
The Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association's lead activist, Datuk Nadzim Johan, said that not even state authorities should be spared from the lawsuit, as pollution incidents have been occurring far too frequently.
"A similar incident happened barely a month ago, and now this. The whole fiasco (water disruption) has become a joke, people are suffering.
"All the parties should be dragged to court so that they can be held responsible for their actions or inactions.
"(We are not only talking about ) the perpetrators, but also state agencies responsible for providing clean and safe water for residents," he said when contacted.
Nadzim said with years of experience in managing water crises, he believes the authorities should be in a better position to tackle the matter promptly, to prevent water cuts.
With frequent river pollution incidents, he said the authorities should have a special river patrolling team, and a database of companies operating near rivers known to discharge effluents.
"Let this be the last of it. People have had enough of such hard times because water is essential," he added.
Air Selangor was forced to halt the operations of water treatment plants at Sungai Semenyih and Bukit Tampoi after a foul-smelling pollutant was detected at a Sungai Semenyih tributary in Negri Sembilan.
This caused water disruptions to more than 300,000 water account holders in 273 locations in Petaling, Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat, and Sepang.
The pollution has been traced to a duck and goose farm near Sungai Pajam in Negri Sembilan.
Earlier today, the Semenyih Water Treatment Plant's Threshold Odour Number (Ton) dipped to 0 – the level required to allow for the resumption of water treatment operations.
However, the Bukit Tampoi Water Treatment Plant's Ton level was still 2 as of 6am.