Yeo: Foreign assistance not needed to detect source of Pasir Gudang pollution

JOHOR BARU: The Government will not be seeking any foreign assistance to detect the source of the chemical pollution in Pasir Gudang, says Yeo Bee Yin.

"We are now carrying out checks at 85 schools on Monday (July 1) within a 13km radius to find out what is happening, said the Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister.

"This latest incident is not similar to the Sungai Kim Kim incident.

"So far, the schools affected and the victims have no geographical correlation. We hope the checks at the schools today will give us an indication what is causing this," she said during a media conference here on Monday.

The Malaysia Nature Society had earlier urged the Government to seek foreign help if it failed to locate the source of the chemical pollution affecting Pasir Gudang residents.

Its vice-president Vincent Chow said the latest round of schoolchildren suffering breathing difficulties could be due to pollution detectors or sensors that were not up to the task.

"Maybe we are using old or obsolete equipment. How can we announce that the air is good and schools can reopen, but then many children fall ill the next day?

"Something is really wrong with our standard operating procedure or detection methods," he said, adding that urgent action was needed before someone got seriously hurt.

Meanwhile, state health, culture and heritage committee chairman Mohd Khuzzan Abu Bakar said that on Sunday (June 30), a total of 270 students and three teachers from 27 schools experienced breathing difficulties and vomiting.

"After we let them rest, a total of 101 of those children were sent to nearby government clinics for checks and only 10 were sent to the hospital for further treatment," he added.