KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — Inaction by the Negri Sembilan government forced Selangor to take matters into its own hands in dealing with the ongoing water contamination crisis, state executive councillor Elizabeth Wong has said.
The Selangor state executive councillor in charge of tourism, consumer affairs and environment defended the state government’s decision to build bunds at the confluence between Sungai Buah and Sungai Semenyih.
“The Negri Sembilan Badan Kawalselia Air told our director on Thursday night — since you use our water, you solve it yourself.
“So that is when we made the decision to build bunds and create a quasi treatment chamber at Sungai Buah,” she told Malay Mail Online when contacted.
“We are also treating the contaminant by ourselves in Nilai, Negri Sembilan with five tonnes of activated carbon,” Wong said.
Yesterday, Wong reportedly said that the onus is on the Negri Sembilan government to clean up the site of the pollution which has resulted in the contamination of river water from Sungai Buah to Selangor and caused water disruptions.
Wong said the pollutant is identified as 4-bromodiphenyl ether, a compound typically used as a flame retardant. This had contaminated the soil at a site near Kilometre 45.9 of the Elite Highway.
Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali previously claimed the contamination to be “sabotage” by political rivals Barisan Nasional and Umno, after the problem left thousands of households in the state without supply.
The state government has lodged a police report over the matter, but Azmin has also been urged to support his allegation with evidence.
