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Wan Junaidi: Illegal factories causing river pollution should be closed

Illegal factories throughout the country, particularly those located near river reserves, should stop operations as they cause river pollution as had occurred lately, said Natural Resource and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

"If possible, river reserves should no longer be used as sewage outlets or factory sites. Illegal factories nationwide should be closed down to prevent river pollution from cropping up again," he told reporters after launching the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia Act 2016 (Frim Act) in conjunction with the 31st Frim anniversary celebration in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said this when asked to comment on the severe pollution of the Sungai Semenyih caused by the discharge from factories at the Semenyih Hitech area.

On Sept 23, Kumpulan Air Selangor announced in a statement that the Sungai Semenyih Water Treatment Plant had to be closed from Sept 22 to 24 as a result of pollution.

This resulted in a prolonged water supply disruption in the districts of Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat, Petaling and Sepang, and the plant was again closed on Oct 4 due to the same problem.

Meanwhile, Wan Junaidi said the Frim Act which was gazetted on Sept 30 was enforced from Oct 1.

He said the Act enabled Frim to commercialise the results of research and development and to form a company to generate its own income to ensure the survival of its services, research activities, development and commercialisation.

"Such commercialisatiom efforts are expected to help Frim in reducing dependency on government funding and achieve self-sufficiency within a period of five years," he added.

- Bernama

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