Environment committee chairman Hee Loy Sian (PH-Kajang) told the state assembly the IWK sewage treatment plant had not been operating since Nov 4.
“LUAS (Selangor Water Management Authority) and Air Selangor were not told about this. IWK reported it to SPAN (National Water Services Commission). If we had known earlier, we would have investigated and found out who disposed of the chemical.
“This is the fourth incident that involved IWK, with the other cases taking place at their Semenyih and Batang Kali plants,” he said.
In response, R Rajiv (PH-Bukit Gasing) voiced his disappointment in SPAN, claiming that it had not taken any action during the past week. However, Hee said anything could happen within that time frame, especially with the amount of rainfall.
“The waste may have flowed out from the IWK plant. We asked IWK for their design on piping and where it goes but they could not provide us (an answer) for our investigation,” he said, and hoped Putrajaya would assist them as SPAN and IWK were federal agencies.
Ronnie Liu (PH-Sungai Pelek) said the Selangor government’s name had been “polluted” because of the frequent water cuts in the Klang Valley, and asked the state government to take legal action against SPAN and IWK.
Hee said “we will sue IWK if there was any wrongdoing on their part”, adding that the consortium was previously fined RM15,000 for contaminating the Air Selangor water treatment plant.
He also said the state government hoped for assistance from Putrajaya in tackling water issues and needed RM200 million for river mitigation projects.
“I hope Sijangkang (Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi) will tell your boss (Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Mat) about it,” Hee said, drawing laughter from other assemblymen.
Earlier, when asked by Yunus (PAS-Sijangkang) if water treatment plants could operate and treat water with a reading of one TON (threshold odour number) instead of zero, Hee said it was not allowed by the health ministry.
Selangor police said they have arrested four suspects over the latest odour pollution of Sungai Selangor, which has left more than one million Klang Valley households without water since yesterday evening.
Air Selangor said the water treatment plants resumed operations early this morning and supply is expected to be restored in stages from 3pm.