[ad_1]
GOMBAK: While four suspects were detained for contamination that caused the widespread shutdown of the water supply in the Klang Valley, the police revealed that the facilities involved were rented out as a shop two weeks ago.
Police and other enforcement agencies inspected the rented parcel at Jalan Velox 2, Rawang, which was believed to have stored chemicals discharged into a sewage pit in the building that flowed into the nearby IWK treatment plant, prompting widespread water outages.
Gombak OCPD Asst Comm Arifai Tarawe said the smell in the plant was the same as that found inside the building.
The controls showed that around 40 barrels of chemicals were still kept within the plot.
ACP Arifai said police estimated that each barrel contained about 1,000 liters of chemicals.
He said the element of sabotage is being investigated, according to the Selangor government.
Raising a stench: Authorities inspected the sewer plant that was contaminated with chemicals that were discharged down a sewer pipe in Taman Velox. The suspects (below) have been arrested while the element of sabotage is being investigated. – Bernama / AZHAR MAHFOF / The star
“I do not deny, and based on the findings so far here on site, the possibility of sabotage. We will investigate further.
“We are also investigating whether further arrests are warranted,” he told reporters at Taman Velox.
Orang Asli affairs, environment, green technology and tourism state committee chair Hee Loy Sian had denounced sabotage over the latest odor pollution in Sungai Selangor on Tuesday, forcing the closure of four treatment plants that they supply running water to some 1,139,008 accounts in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. .
ACP Arifai said the type of chemical will be determined through a laboratory test.
“The place was rented as a store just two weeks ago. The first rental payment was about RM 3,800.
“We are still investigating the nature of the business,” he said.
When asked if strict measures will be taken against other illegal factories in the area, he said that enforcement of the law is not just the province of the police.
Earlier in the day, four suspects, including a local woman, linked to the pollution were arrested and will remain in pre-trial detention until Tuesday.
Datuk Fadzil Ahmat, deputy head of the Selangor CID, said that, following the latest reports of water contamination, the police made arrests in Gombak, Damansara and Kelana Jaya.
He said investigations showed the registered tenant of the lot was the woman.
A 33-year-old Bangladeshi man and a local who stored the chemicals in the rented facility were among those picked up, he said in a statement yesterday.
SAC Fadzil said the spilled chemicals were believed to have caused the contamination.
The Selangor Water Management Authority said the source of the contamination could be solvents found in Sungai Selangor, prompting operations at the water treatment plants in Rantau Panjang and Sungai Phase 1, 2 and 3 Selangor stopped at 12:45 on Tuesday.
Just a month ago, a similar incident in Sungai Selangor also caused water outages in the Klang Valley.
[ad_2]
