JOHOR BARU, March 14 — Johor Health, Environment and Agriculture Committee chairman Dr Sahruddin Jamal pleaded with the state government’s critics to not exacerbate the Pasir Gudang chemical contamination by circulating fake news and politicising the incident.
He said that he has worked non-stop since last Thursday after the first incident of hazardous fumes emanating from illegally dumped chemicals in Sungai Kim Kim.
“Stop making things worse. Don’t add more misery on top of the situation that we are dealing with in Pasir Gudang,” Dr Sahruddin said in a statement yesterday.
Dr Sahruddin said he recalled the massive Kelantan flood in 2014 that saw Malaysians from all walks of life, regardless of their political affiliation, uniting to help the victims.
He said this unity was also needed now.
“We had been working hard in dealing with this disaster. Who likes to see something like this happening?” Dr Sahruddin said.
False information including a fabricated “Red Alert” warning has circulated on social media, causing confusion and panic among the public.
Former Johor mentri besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin has criticised the Johor government for its “weak-response” in dealing with the issue.
Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Osman Sapian said yesterday that the chemical fume incident is under control, but at the same time expressed his regret that the Opposition was using the incident as an opportunity to attack the state government, instead of offering ideas or assistance for the people’s benefit.
