NILAI, July 2 — The full report on investigations into the recent contamination at the Sungai Semenyih water treatment plant is scheduled to be ready next week, said National Water Services Commission (SPAN) chairman Charles Anthony Santiago today.
The report will be submitted to the Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar for further action.
On Sunday, the minister had instructed the commission to investigate the incident which prompted a temporary stop to operations resulting in water disruptions as well as low-pressure water supply which affected 377,141 registered customers across 512 areas in the Petaling, Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat and Sepang districts.
In its June 26 statement, Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd had announced the halt to operations at the plant following contamination believed to have originated from a palm oil processing factory which had been ordered closed to facilitate investigations. The plant resumed operations the next day at 6am.
Speaking to Bernama when met at a conference on ‘Federalism in Malaysia: Redefining the Federal-State relationship’ here, Santiago said investigations were underway, with the commission calling on parties believed to be responsible for the incident to give their statements today.
He added that the Selangor government was believed to be pursuing similar investigations.
Santiago who is also Klang MP, said it was vital that parties responsible for the contamination are hauled to court to face appropriate action under the law, because these kinds of incidents were occurring in other parts of the country.
“If the government does not respond seriously and efficiently, this will give the impression that they (polluters) can get away with anything”, he said, adding that SPAN viewed the incident as a serious matter. — Bernama
