Sg Johor Pollution: Company Issued Stop-work Order, Faces Compound Action - Exco

JOHOR BAHRU, Nov 4 (Bernama) -- The company involved in the Sungai Johor pollution incident will be fined and required to bear the costs of recovery and clean-up works, says State Public Works, Transport, Infrastructure and Communications Committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh.

He said the Johor Land and Mines Office (PTG) had also issued an immediate stop-work order for all mining activities.

“The company’s mineral material permit has also been temporarily suspended to allow the investigation process to take place,” he said in a Facebook post.

He said the investigation was being carried out under Section 7A(1)(c) of the Water Enactment 1921 (Amendment 2014) and the Environmental Quality Act 1974.

Meanwhile, Mohamad Fazli said a sudden spike in water usage and panic storage by consumers were among the factors that caused the drop in water tank levels at several locations, leading to intermittent supply.

He said, on average, 31 water tankers were making between five and six trips daily to ensure uninterrupted water delivery to affected users.

“A total of 31 water tankers with a combined capacity of 613 cubic metres are being deployed daily to deliver clean water to the affected areas,” he said.

He added that water supply was expected to be fully restored gradually within the next eight to 12 hours, depending on stabilisation of pressure and tank refilling.

A total of 455,757 account holders, or nearly 1.8 million residents in Johor, were affected in stages by the pollution incident that occurred last Friday.

The pollution was caused by a burst sand-washing pond at an inland sand mining site in Kota Tinggi district, which forced the temporary shutdown of a water treatment plant.

As of yesterday, Ranhill SAJ reported that overall water supply recovery in Kota Tinggi, Johor Bahru, Pontian and Kulai had reached 93 per cent.

-- BERNAMA