Eight detained to facilitate probe into Sungai Selangor odour pollution

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 -- Police arrested eight individuals including a director of a company, repairing and selling construction machinery, this morning to facilitate investigations into the raw water source contamination in Sungai Selangor.

Selangor Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief Datuk Fadzil Ahmat said apart from the 31-year-old director of the company, his 62-year-old father and six employees comprising two locals and four foreign nationals from Nepal, Pakistan and Myanmar were also detained.

“All of them were arrested at 11.30 am today in Rawang, Selangor after initial investigations found that the odour detected ended in Sungai Gong, Rawang suspected to be starting from the company.

“They will be taken to Selayang Court tomorrow to be remanded, the case is being investigated under Section 430 of the Penal Code," he said in a statement here today.

Fadzil said Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) detected an abnormal odour at the raw water source in Sungai Selangor at 12.38 am on Monday causing the Rantau Panjang Water Treatment Plant (LRA) operations to be stopped when an odour pollution of three TON (Threshold Odour Number) was detected.

“At 2.00 am on the same day, Sungai Selangor LRA Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3 had to be shut down when an odour pollution of three TON was detected,” he said.

The media had earlier reported that the stop work of the four plants had caused unscheduled water supply disruption involving 1,196,457 account holders covering 1,292 areas in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling, Klang/Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor, Gombak and Kuala Langat.

--BERNAMA