Plagued by pollution from nearby farms

The residents of Hijauan Valdor are forced to put up with corrosion every day.

FOR years, residents thought that they only had to contend with the stink of pig farms.

But the worst was yet to come as they later observed corrosion and rust on all of their metal items and fixtures.

In land-starved Penang, many homeowners had little choice but to acquire landed properties just a few hundred metres from pig farms in Nibong Tebal, south Seberang Prai.

After years of tolerating the stink, residents in a gated community in Valdor, Nibong Tebal, noticed their cast iron gates pitting and twisting with rust.

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Stainless steel water taps turned black. Nickel-plated metal objects – fancy ceiling fans and door knobs – developed a dull grey patina.

Anything made of copper or brass turned green and swelled.Metal gates and fences outdoors bear the brunt of the exposure to the corrosive gases from nearby pig farms - Andy Lo/The Star

Chrome trimmings on cars developed black dots.

Nothing metallic was spared.

Even coins and keys left in drawers turned black.

The worst affected are the beautifully furnished homes in the gated-and-guarded community, located a mere 150m from a cluster of pig farms.

The farms have been there for decades but rapid growth in Penang has brought urban communities closer to them.

Engineer Julius Saw, 33, who moved into the area five years ago said the foul smell from the farms were a permanent feature while the rusting began about two years back.

“There are 129 houses along my block facing the farms and we suffer the most.

“The other blocks do not face such severe corrosion. This led us to believe that it was the noxious gases from the farms that are causing the metal to rust,” he said.

Checks at the nearby drainage canal showed that it was almost stagnant and turbid to the point of being almost black.

Another resident, Mohd Fazrin Chek Wiraman, 30, who lives with two young children aged three and one, said he had to keep his windows and doors shut at all times to keep out most of the foul odour.

“We are worried about their health as the gases might be harmful.A Hijauan Valdor resident’s fancy ceiling fan has suffered extensive corrosion.

“It creates discomfort. Whenever friends and relatives visit, they ask about it,” he said.

Retired clerk Chris Saw, 64, said when she bought the house in 2018, she was told that the drain opposite would serve as buffer between the houses and railway line, but was never informed about the farms.

“It was only after I moved in that we detected the smell.

“My appliances started failing within years, such as the air conditioners when the copper coils became corroded.

“This house is supposed to be my retirement home but it is now giving me a headache,” she lamented.

Another resident, who declined to be named, said he had enough after his refrigerator and television broke down.

“The technician was shocked by their condition and described the corrosion as “abnormal”.

“We need a solution or I am moving out,” he said.

Waste management expert Prof Dr Norli Ismail, from Universiti Sains Malaysia, said the residents were likely afflicted by biogas produced from anaerobic decomposition of organic waste matter.

She confirmed that some of these gases were corrosive.

“The biogas produced is primarily composed of methane and carbon dioxide, with lesser amounts of hydrogen sulphide, ammonia, and others. Each of these gases has safety issues directly or indirectly,” she pointed out.

Those emitted gases, Prof Norli said, could adhere to atmospheric particles or any solid matter and become acidic – usually in the form of sulfur oxides or nitric oxides – through a simple natural reaction.

“Winds can blow those oxides over long distances, rendering acid rain a problem for everyone and not just those who live within the perimeter of any stated point sources,” she cautioned.

She said due to weather influences, it could be difficult to address which factors or sources caused the corrosion problem.

“It involves many factors and needs investigation,” she stressed.

Bukit Tambun assemblyman Goh Choon Aik said the state was aware of the issue and was studying the matter to tackle it.

“We started receiving complaints in 2020 and investigated, but results were not conclusive,” he said.

He listed a series of tests by the government and a private laboratory which involved collecting hours of air samples.

There was also an attempt to collect 24-hour air samples but it failed due to equipment error.

The test was done again on April 23 and results are pending.

“This situation must be addressed as it affects the ecosystem when the waste flows into the sea. We can use probiotics to reduce the pollution.

“Marine life will be largely affected if there is no solution implemented,” he said.

It was previously reported that based on the Water Quality Index of the Department of Environment (DOE), a canal flowing near this gated community has 94 times more ammonia (254ppm, parts per million) than the lowest level of a Class Five (highly polluted) river.

In DOE’s 2012 annual report, Kampung Valdor is said to have the highest inland groundwater contamination readings in Penang, with a chemical oxygen demand at 721.66ppm – that is seven times above a Class Five polluted river.

It was reported in 2015 that the pollution stems from the farm wash-off from about 40 pig and poultry farms.

In August 2020, the Seberang Prai City Council announced that pig farmers in Penang had two years to convert to modern closed-farming systems with zero discharge and control over the emission of the gases and stench after the state’s Pig Farm Enactment 2016 laws are enforced in January of this year.

Last April, Penang agrotechnology and food safety committee chairman Dr Norlela Ariffin announced that severe action, including forced closure, would be taken against pig farms that do not comply with the enactment.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia president Meenakshi Raman had urged the state government to be strict on enforcement to reduce the extent of agricultural pollution reaching the sea, and to improve the quality of life of Penang residents.

In a report by the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Penang is recognised as a major porcine producer in Malaysia, with about half of the country’s pigs raised here since the 1970s.

It was also reported that pork is the only protein option in Malaysia with 100% self-sufficiency, on top of large-scale exports to Singapore.