Pasir Gudang schools to remain closed until after school holidays

JOHOR BAHRU — Pasir Gudang schools will remain closed until the school holidays as a precaution against toxic fumes, said Mr Maszlee Malik.

The education minister decided to keep the 111 schools closed on Monday (March 18) after a meeting with the agencies involved in the clean-up of Sungei Kim Kim.

“The Education Ministry is following the advice from the authorities, and the decision to close the schools was done as a precautionary measure.

“All the affected schools here will be closed until the next school holidays,” he told reporters on Monday.

The week long school holiday begins on Friday.

On Sunday, Energy, Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin announced that the cleaning of 1.5km of Sungei Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang, Johor, which began on Wednesday following the dumping of toxic chemical waste there, has been completed.

Ms Yeo said, however, that monitoring will continue to see if anything more needs to be done.

“The 1.5km-stretch of Sungei Kim Kim that was polluted has already been cleaned up, but today we want to see what ‘touch-ups’ we can do.

“Today can be said to be a day of monitoring. Only after that can we can look into what further action is needed,” she told reporters.

Parents in Pasir Gudang want an assurance from Putrajaya that the Sungei Kim Kim area is safe before sending their children back to school, even as authorities say they are on the verge of completely clearing the toxic waste.

Many parents The Malaysian Insight spoke to want assurances from Putrajaya that it is safe to return. THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT