JOHOR BARU: Picnickers and jungle trekkers to the Gunung Pulai Recreational Forest near Kulai will have to wait a little bit longer before they can visit the popular picnic spot again.
The waterfall at the popular recreational forest will remain off-limits to visitors until June 14 after an 18-year-old boy died from leptospirosis, said State Health, Environment, Education and Information committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat.
“We have yet to get results of the water samples taken from the picnic areas in Gunung Pulai.
“We hope to get the results from the authorities soon to reopen the place to visitors,” he said.
Notice boards urging visitors to keep the area clean have gone unheeded resulting in a breeding ground for rodents littered with rubbish.
The victim had gone for a swim there in April and developed a fever, flu and stomach ache.
His condition worsened and he was admitted to the intensive care unit at Hospital Sultanah Aminah.
His internal organs then failed, and he died on May 19.
Easily accessible via the North-South Expressway, Gunung Pulai is a popular destination for locals and Singaporeans. The waterfall area there was closed for three months from October through December 2015 after water samples tested positive for leptospirosis, an infectious disease that occurs in animals and which can be transmitted to humans.
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