‘Come down hard on polluters’
Govt urged to take stern action against those responsible
KUALA LUMPUR: Frustrated by the sudden water cut due to river pollution, residents here want to see tough action against the wrongdoers.
“The government should punish the factory owners severely. Compound alone is not enough, harsher penalties should be given to them,” said military staff member Suhaimie Muhammad, 37.
He thinks the perpetrators deserve maximum punishment.
“One thing is for sure. They should not be allowed to operate any longer,” he added.
He was concerned about the large group of people gathering to collect water from the lorries.
“There were many people in one place with no physical distancing. It is not safe for us,” he said.
Suhaimie, who lives in an apartment in Setiawangsa, said the authorities should set up more local service centres and public taps to further help those affected.
The latest water cut was caused by odour pollution at Sungai Gong.
Police have arrested four men who are owners of a factory that is alleged to have been the cause of the pollution.
Hairul Anuar Yaakub, 53, and his wife Nasariah Wahid, 51, also expressed their anger over the water cut.
“We are unhappy. We have a big family with six people living in our home. This situation puts a lot of burden on us.
“We believe the government has been handling the situation well but the problem comes from an external factor, which is the factory.
“The government should take strong action against the factory or whoever else that had a hand in polluting the river,” added Hairul, who lives in an apartment in AU3.
Nasariah said: “These irresponsible people are the true villains and they are causing trouble to the community.”
She noted that an odour pollution incident had also happened in Sungai Linggi in June.
“These people who polluted our rivers should be given harsh penalties,” she added.
Mohamad Amir Faiz, 29, who has been living in Setiawangsa for 10 years, said he had gone through several water disruptions.
“This water disruption is such an inconvenience for us. Everyone is affected because of one person (the factory),” he said.
He added that the factory should take full responsibility for what happened.
“It deserves to be permanently shut down. This incident affects countless people in the Klang Valley,” he said, adding that it also impacted those running businesses such as food catering and car wash.
Checks on supermarkets found that people were buying mineral water to stock up at home.
Staff were seen restocking the shelves frequently.
At one of the local service centre and public pipes set up by Air Selangor in AU3, Keramat, rows of residents could be seen queuing up to get their water supply.
Most of them wore face masks but the physical distancing rule was not followed all the time.