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PETALING JAYA: PKR MP Wangsa Maju Tan Yee Kew said his office is considering a class action lawsuit against water agencies in Selangor, seeking solutions to frequent water outages that affect the livelihoods of valley residents. of Klang.
However, the conditional movement control order (CMCO) has delayed the participation of residents in filing the lawsuit.
“We cannot organize large group informational meetings to inform residents about our initiative, but we have enlisted the help of grassroots leaders and RAs (residents associations) to speak with local communities.
“Our goal is for 500 people to join this class action lawsuit and we are extending the period for people to join us until the end of November,” he told FMT, adding that this initiative had started in September.
Tan said that five law firms – Messrs. Calvin Khoo, Messrs. Fithril Rahim & Co, Messrs. Wun, Lee & Partners, Saha & Associates, and Preakas & Partners – are assisting residents in this civil action.
“They are young lawyers and not ‘big names’. They are willing to render their legal services free of charge.
“Once they collect 500 names to join this lawsuit, they will bring it to court,” he said, adding that so far there are more than 100 people who have joined the lawsuit.
Tan said that people who are interested in joining the class action lawsuit must pay RM20 as a “special fee,” while the fees for street vendors and shop owners are RM50 and RM100, respectively.
“I began this exercise to tell agencies to be encouraged in the performance of their public duties to ensure clean water supplies to residents.
“In the last year, in Wangsa Maju alone, we experienced water outages seven times and we really need to put an end to it,” he said.
In addition, agencies such as the Department of the Environment, the Selangor Water Management Authority (LUAS) and the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) should implement more preventive measures against pollution.
On questions about the “difficulties” in holding agencies accountable through legal action, he said there are different opinions on whether the public can take such action.
“We have to see how the courts view the case and if they want to give residents the opportunity to be heard.
“We are now taking the first step to show agencies that not only polluters must be held accountable, but authorities must also play a role in protecting rivers,” he said.
Yesterday, LUAS said that four water treatment plants had to be closed after odor contamination was detected in Sungai Selangor.
The latest contamination affected 1,292 areas in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling, Klang, Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor, Gombak and Kuala Langat, disrupting supply to 1.19 million users.
