Factory pays heavy price for folly

KLUANG: The Johor Department of Environment (DOE) has suspended the licence of a processing factory for three months after it caused ammonia pollution at the Sembrong Barat dam here.

State Health, Environment, Education and Information Committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat said the notice was given after the factory failed to manage its waste well.

Besides suspending the factory licence, the Johor Water Regulatory Body (Bakaj) will be imposing a maximum compound of RM250,000 on the factory, he added.

Ayub said this after conducting a surprise spot check together with various enforcement agencies at Batu 3 along Jalan Batu Pahat here yesterday.

“A total of 45,000 accounts here had their water disrupted after high levels of ammonia were found at the Sembrong Barat dam on Thursday,” he said.

Ayub also said the state government would take stern action against any quarter found to cause pollution in Johor rivers.

Meanwhile, SAJ Ranhil production and distribution operation manager Elias Ismail said about 200,000 users have had their water supply restored in stages since yesterday morning.

This is the fourth time and the second within a span of a month that water in Johor has been affected by ammonia pollution.

Earlier this month, the state government also ordered a poultry farm and a chicken manure processing factory in Layang-Layang to stop operation after high ammonia content was found in Sungai Johor that caused a shutdown of water supply to some 1.8 million consumers.