The Sungai Semenyih water contamination issue was linked to the Pakatan Harapan state government's takeover of several water concessionaires, said Kampung Tunku assemblyperson Lau Weng San.

Lau said that contrary to the claims spread on social media, initial tests on the contaminated water sample has identified the pollutant as 4-bromodiphenyl ether.

“Only after identifying this (the pollutant) can the right treatment be used to remove it from the river.

“The government can also conduct further investigations because only certain importers and industry players would be using certain types of chemicals (in their operations),” the DAP representative said in a statement.

The situation which led to disruption of water supplies in several areas, Lau said, has nothing to do with issues on management of the water concessionaires, for instance burst pipes or failure of the water treatment plants.

“The water restructuring exercise in Selangor has yet to be completed because discussions are still ongoing on takeover of Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Holdings Bhd (Splash) by the state government.

“The Selangor government have only taken over Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) and now renamed as Air Selangor six months ago,” he pointed out.

Despite denials by the federal government, Lau insisted that the repeated incidents of pollution was an act of sabotage.

“Worse, the incident occurred in an area outside of Selangor,” he added.

Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali previously said the contamination is traced to Sungai Buah in Negri Sembilan, where relevant authorities have been informed.

Negri Sembilan menteri besar Mohamad Hasan, however, said a technical report on Hulu Sungai Buah showed no signs of pollution.

The Selangor government had set up bunds at the Sungai Buah and Sungai Semenyih confluence to treat the water there, but stresses that it is unsustainable if Negri Sembilan does nothing.

Lau, meanwhile, also urged police to expedite investigations into police reports lodged on the matter, including to record statements from Lembaga Urus Air Selangor (Luas) and Air Selangor officials.

This is on top of viewing matters related to river pollution as a national security issue, he added.

The Sungai Semenyih Water Treatment Plant (LRA) was forced to shut down more than five times this year as a result of contamination, with the latest on Oct 23, resulting disruption to water supply in Selangor.

It resumed operations today.