KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 ― A total of 5,589 illegal factories were found operating throughout Selangor with 869 of them located near rivers, said State Local Government, Public Transport and New Village Development Committee chairman, Ng Sze Han.

He said from 869 unlicensed factories located near rivers, a large portion of them were found downstream or after water treatment plant intake points.

Ng added that from 869 illegal factories located near rivers, 546 were under the administration of Shah Alam City Council, Subang Jaya City Council (23), Klang Municipal Council (20), Kajang Municipal Council (155), Selayang Municipal Council (75), Sepang Municipal Council (two), Kuala Langat Municipal Council (27), Kuala Selangor District Council (14) and Hulu Selangor District Council (seven).

"The state government takes a serious view of unlicensed factories even though there are confusion on the status of such factories.          

"I wish to clarify that unlicensed factories are factories which have temporary business licence but have yet to meet the technical conditions such land status, zoning or planning permission. They are not factories carrying out illegal activities,” he told the Selangor State Legislative Assembly sitting here today. 

He was replying to a question by Adif Shan Abdullah (Bersatu-Dengkil) on the proactive actions of the state government to prevent the operation of illegal factories.

According to Ng, the state government is of the view that the unlicensed factories should be given the opportunity, which is why the legalisation programme of illegal factories which ended on Sept 30 was extended to Dec 31 while enforcement against them was halted.

He said the whitening period was extended following the imposition of the movement control order (MCO) after the Covid-19 outbreak, but integrated actions according to the law would be carried out after the deadline. ― Bernama