JOHOR BARU, Sept 3 — The Johor government has ruled out industrial pollution or effluent discharge in the waters of Lido Beach as the cause of dead fish found on a stretch of the beach here last weekend.
Johor Local Government, Urban Wellbeing and Environment Committee chairman Tan Chen Choon said initial investigation by the Department of Environment (DoE) based on water readings at the scene found that it was free of any effluents released from industrial or sewage sources.
“Instead, in-situ readings from DoE conclude that changes in the eco-system had occurred in these waters.
“The parameter readings of the dissolved oxygen (DO) for suitability of marine life is 5.0 mg / l compared to the actual DO rate recorded in the (Lido Beach) waters that was at 3.6 mg / l.
“The findings conclude that there were changes in the eco-system of the waters that caused the incident where dead fishes were found on Lido Beach,” Tan said in a statement today.
He was commenting on the incident last Friday and Saturday when dead fish washed ashore on Lido Beach in front on Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA) near the city centre here.
The incident was reported on a Johor Facebook environmental page “Pray For Pasir Gudang” on Friday. This was followed by public complaints to the authorities due to a stench on the following day.
Tan said the state government took note of public concerns over the discovery of a dead fish found on Lido Beach.
“The timely public response has assisted the Johor DoE to act quickly in identifying any possible factors that led to the incident.
“For information, a field investigation by DoE on August 28 involved the Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) who had carried out the clean-up work and the Johor Baru District Fisheries Department acted to analyse water samples from the water with the assistance of the Johor Baru South police,” said Tan.
Tan, who is also the Jementah assemblyman, said the state government has requested that DoE keep monitoring the water quality and take any corrective action needed to ensure that such incidents do not recur.
He added that the Malaysian Fisheries Department‘s role is also needed to complement the efforts of DoE in addressing the long-term ecosystem changes in the waters.
“Any developments related to Lido Beach water quality investigation and field studies will be updated from time to time.
“As such, the state government and its related agencies have called for the cooperation of the public to conserve the environment especially rivers in Johor by channelling any suspicious activity that may lead to pollution,” said Tan.
