Photo taken by a Kampung Bukit Permai resident showing the condition of Sungai Kim Kim two years ago.
THERE is a need to set up a scheduled waste disposal centre in Pasir Gudang to avoid the recurrence of pollution incidents such as the Sungai Kim Kim tragedy, says Hassan Karim.
The Pasir Gudang MP said he made the request to Natural Resources and Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad during a meeting.
“I really hope the proposal will be considered as I believe that such a centre should have been set up here long ago,” he said.
Hassan says centre should have been set up a long time ago. — FilepicIf Pasir Gudang was not a suitable site, he said the scheduled waste disposal centre could also be located at nearby industrial areas like Pengerang.
“At the very least, industry players do not have to send scheduled waste all the way to Negri Sembilan.
“The high cost to dispose of scheduled waste to a far away facility may also be one of the reasons some companies take the easy way of disposing chemical waste into the rivers,” he said.
In March 2019, the pollution in Sungai Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang resulted in thousands of people falling ill, including nine who required intensive care while 111 schools in the district were temporarily closed.
The district was hit with a similar pollution three months later, which also caused dozens to fall sick and lead to another temporary closure of schools.
In a statement on Dec 2, the Department of Environment (DOE) said P Tech Resources Sdn Bhd, which faced eight charges under the Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulations 2014, was fined RM320,000 in relation to the March 2019 incident.
DOE also fined a lorry driver RM100,000 for causing pollution by illegally disposing waste into Sungai Kim Kim in the incident.
Hassan also proposed that the penalty for offenders who pollute water bodies such as rivers should be heavier so that it is proportional to the offence committed.
