Smoke rising on Black Water Lake

MPKj says fire was detected at the illegal dumpsite at Bandar Mahkota Cheras on Jan 30. — Photo courtesy of YEW JIN TEOH.

THICK smoke from an illegal dumpsite at Black Water Lake is worrying residents of nearby Bandar Mahkota Cheras in Selangor.

Resident Yew Jin Teoh said the continuous smoke has persisted for a week.

“It is still burning 24/7 with an acrid smell that is strong even though the area that’s burning is roughly 3km away from where I live,” he told StarMetro.

Yew said he believed the fire was due to open burning at an illegal dumpsite near the lake.

The Vantage Residents Association (RA) chairman Logan Retnam complained that authorities were not doing anything to stop vehicles from going in and out of the area to carry out illegal dumping.

Firefighters battling the fire at the dumpsite.

“Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) removed the gates and the small guard post that was there before and put a notice on the increase in penalties for vehicle seizures, but this did not stop the lorries.

“In fact, it made it worse, as they can dump waste around the clock now, with a foreign worker at the entrance guiding these lorries in,” he said.

In a statement, MPKj said it detected a fire on Jan 30 at the Bandar Mahkota Cheras illegal dumpsite.

“Initial action involved contacting the Fire and Rescue Department to carry out firefighting operations but the extensive area made it difficult and time-consuming to extinguish the fire.

“To expedite matters, the department advised MPKj to provide excavators in the area.”

On Feb 4, Kajang assemblyman David Cheong’s office in a Facebook post, wrote that the fire had been extinguished and the smoke was slowly dissipating.

“Thanks to the firefighters for their tireless efforts in putting out the flames,” he said.

On the illegal dumpsite issue, MPKj said it had raised the penalty for lorry seizure on Feb 1, from RM1,500 to RM5,500, with a impound period of one month.“This increase in charges can have an impact and put pressure on those involved, hopefully leading to a reduction in planned waste disposal activities at illegal dumpsites,” said the municipal council.

It said integrated monitoring operations were conducted periodically at several identified hotspots in the Hulu Langat district.

It also said it had confiscated a total of 35 lorries in 2023 and four lorries in January this year.

The issue of illegal dumping at Black Water Lake has been going on for years, with those living in nearby residential areas complaining to the authorities about the bad smell.