CAP urges DoE to quickly resolve Sg Ngulang river pollution

KANGAR: The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) is urging the Perlis Department of Environment (DoE) to take stern action immediately against a factory that was found to have polluted the waters of Sungai Ngulang, causing hundreds of fish to die.

In a statement yesterday, CAP said the problem alleged by locals arose from the discharge of treatment plant effluents from a factory in Bukit Keteri which is five kilometres from the said river.

The statement said Sungai Ngulang is a place for people to go fishing for various freshwater fish, bathing as well as irrigating padi fields in Perlis.

CAP president Mohidden Abdul Kadir said CAP regretted that although the incident, which caused the river water to turn black, had been reported previously and the contaminated water had been taken for testing, the problem still recurred.

“Therefore, CAP is asking DoE, Department of Drainage and Irrigation and Kangar Municipal Council to investigate the cause of this problem and to disclose to the public the legal action to be taken against those found involved in polluting this river,” he said in the statement.

He said the Environmental Quality Act 1974 needed to be strictly enforced with the appropriate punishment imposed on those responsible.

“CAP believes and is worried that if this pollution continues in Sungai Ngulang then there will be more serious pollution in the future and this would affect the breeding of various types of fish in the river, and affect the activities of padi farmers here,” he added.

Earlier, Utusan Malaysia had reported that the waters of Sungai Ngulang had turned black and hundreds of fish were found dead, causing concerns to the local community. — Bernama