JOHOR BARU: Residents of Kampung Sepakat Baru in Skudai here have expressed concern over the presence of a foamy black water discharge emitting a foul smell flowing into Sungai Skudai near the village since the end of last month.
Sepakat Baru village resident committee member Azmi Basiran, 54, who has lived in the village for over 40 years, said the discharge location is only about 300m from their homes.
"This black water is foamy and emits a putrid odour, but so far, it does not smell like gas.
"This incident is troubling and we are wondering where the drainage water is coming from that continues to flow out into the river," he told Bernama here Friday (Jan 10).
According to him, the discharge was still flowing despite the hot weather since last week, emitting a stronger stench.
"When it doesn't rain, the stench is really bad, but today it just rained and the smell subsided but arose again. What worries us is that our village is close to the water plant, so we hope nothing (untoward) is happening," he said.
He said this pollution was occurring for the first time, and the factory area is located quite far from the village, which is more than 5km apart from being close to housing projects and oil palm plantations.
He urged the authorities to carry out an immediate investigation to identify the source of the pollution, adding that he has forwarded the complaint to Skudai assemblyman Marina Ibrahim.
Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, Marina said that she has informed the Environment Department (DOE) for further action.
A Bernama check at the location found that the smell could still be detected despite heavy rain. Several DOE enforcers were also seen near the scene of the incident, conducting inspections. - Bernama
