IPOH: The loud boom felt in several parts of the city is unlikely to be caused by quarry blasting activities, says Perak police chief.
Datuk Noor Hisam Noordin stated that checks have been carried out, and although several quarries did perform blasting on that day, all activities occurred after 12pm.
“Some blasts occurred at 1pm and even at 4.08pm. Quarry explosions are carried out according to scheduled times. More importantly, these incidents took place after the 10.30am incident.
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"So, it is doubtful the sound came from quarry operations,” he told reporters at the duty handover of the state police internal security and public safety chief and Gerik OCPD at the police officers' mess hall today (July 2).
Noor Hisam said that collaboration with the Minerals and Geoscience Department was ongoing, and evidence was being gathered before a meeting was held with the department to establish the actual cause of the phenomenon.
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“So far, there have been no further tremors. Therefore, we encourage the public to stay calm and let the authorities conduct a thorough investigation,” he said.
When asked whether a special operation was carried out to check the amount of explosives (bahan api) used, he said police had conducted stock verification exercises.
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“We are verifying the amount of explosive material (bahan api) that was approved and the amount used. Quarry stock records must be accurate and tamper-proof,” he said.
He added that about 153 licensed quarries are listed in Ipoh.
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Noor Hisam confirmed that, to date, no licensed companies have breached the stock regulations.
“Those with valid permits are carrying out blasting activities according to regulations and the approved schedule,” he said, adding that since June, monitoring has been stepped up.
