KANGAR, March 15 — The Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) urged the Perlis government to take immediate action to address the problem of river pollution in the state to ensure its water quality remains at first class.
Its president, Professor Ahmad Ismail said the issue on pollution of Sungai Ngulang could still be addressed as the level of pollution in the river was not as bad as in other rivers.
“Perlis is fortunate because the water quality in most of its rivers is categorised as Class One by the Department of Environment (DOE), with the Water Quality Index (WQI) at a reading of 92.7 to 100.0 apart from having a healthy ecosystem.
“Class one means that the river water is safe to drink and only requires very minimal water treatment and is suitable to be a habitat for aquatic life,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
Bernama recently reported on complaints from the public that the water in Sungai Ngulang was seen turning black a few days ago.
Following which, the Perlis DOE had taken water samples from the river and sent them to the Kedah Chemistry Department in Alor Setar for analysis.
Ahmad said the state government should continue to intensify monitoring and enforcement of the law to ensure its rivers remained clean.
This included ensuring that all development and human activities are carried out in accordance with existing laws, prevent dumping of rubbish into river and forest clearing, he added.
He also expressed the need for programmes to be carried out to enhance public awareness on the importance of keeping rivers clean.
The pollution incident in Sungai Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang, Johor, in 2019, should be a lesson for us, he added. — Bernama
