Police report filed over Selangor river contamination

KUALA LUMPUR — The Selangor state authorities have filed a police report over allegations that there were sabotage elements in the contamination of Semenyih River, which disrupted the piped water supply to hundreds of thousands of households in the state recently.

Its Chief Minister Azmin Ali said the report was made by the Selangor Water Management Board and the individuals behind the contamination should be “brought to justice”.

Mr Azmin, however, did not elaborate whether the individuals were linked to ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) or United Malays National Organisation (Umno).

“All these incidents have been taking place outside Selangor. Yesterday was in Nilai (Negeri Sembilan), before that it took place in Pahang,” he said.

Mr Azmin had accused BN and Umno on Sunday of playing a role in the contamination of the Semenyih water treatment plant, which caused water disruption.

He also claimed that it was an attempt to undermine his state government with the 14th general election only two years away.

Earlier, Selangor Umno chief Noh Omar challenged Mr Azmin, who is also Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice-president, to provide evidence to support his claims that BN and Umno had played a role in the water disruption.

Mr Noh, who is also Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government, said: “Give solid evidence on the matter, let’s see if it is true.” He also said the state government should start looking at their faults instead of blaming other parties for problems in Selangor.

Mr Noh added that BN has no intention to “win dirty” in order to retain Selangor in the next general election. “We don’t want to win by causing inconvenience to the people,” he said.

Mr Azmin had been quoted by the New Straits Times as saying on Sunday that the state government has “strong evidence” to back up the claim.

“From our investigation, it was seen that the way of contamination was pretty standard and very systematic. The Department of Environment and the Attorney-General’s Chambers are completing their investigation,” said Mr Azmin.

He alleged that the Semenyih River incident was not the first and that it was “serial” and the local governments have been ordered to take stern action against illegal factories found operating at all river basins in Selangor. Mr Azmin added that action taken would include seizing the land used by these factories and their machinery.

Local media reported that the Semenyih water treatment plant was forced to shut down again following contamination believed to have originated from an industrial area in Nilai.

Following the contamination, several areas in Selangor such as Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat, Sepang and Petaling faced water disruptions from Sunday.

The water-treatment plant closed three times last month in the space of 48 hours, due to unidentified odour in the river’s raw water. The authorities found an illegal company operating near the river after carrying out investigations and the company was ordered to close down early this month. AGENCIES