‘Mill likely to face court over water disruption’

KOTA TINGGI: An oil palm mill located in Ulu Remis between the Kluang and Kota Tinggi districts will likely face legal action for allegedly discharging effluents into Sungai Johor which resulted in high ammonia levels in the river.

The high ammonia content was detected on Tuesday by the state authorities, rendering the water unfit for human consumption. It forced three water treatment plants to stop their operations, causing supply disruptions for some 600,000 users in the southern parts of Johor.

Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin told yesterday that the state government planned to haul the government-linked company (GLC) that owned the oil palm mill to court.

“We have taken water samples from Sungai Johor and handed them to the Department of Environment for further action,” he said.

Mohamed Khaled said the pollution had caused hardship and inconvenience to hundreds of thousands of users.

He added that the state government would not hesitate to take legal action against any GLCs, state-linked companies or private companies for polluting the environment.

The Semangar and Sungai Johor plants resumed operations in stages on Wednesday and water supply to the affected areas was likely to fully resume by today.