JOHOR BARU: A frozen food processing factory in the Taman Selesa Jaya Industrial Park here was slapped with a stop-work order after it was suspected to be a source of pollution in a nearby tributary.
State Health and Environment Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said residents had complained of foul odours and discoloured water in the tributary, which prompted the state Department of Environment (DoE) to conduct investigations recently.
Ling said DoE officers conducted multiple investigations before identifying the factory as the source of the contamination.
"After the officers identified the source, they immediately issued the factory's operator with a stop-work order," he told the New Straits Times here today.
"The state DoE's notice was to ensure the pollution was brought to a halt. It imposed operational restrictions on the equipment involved in the discharge," he said.
Meanwhile, state DoE director Dr Mohd Famey Yusof confirmed that the stop-work order was issued against the factory on Dec 21, under Regulation 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127).
He said samples were taken from the factory and initial testing revealed it was not similar to the chemical waste disposed of into the tributary, but was believed to process water from washing the factory's machines and equipment.
He added that the next course of action against the factory operator will be determined after investigations are concluded.