The recent news of Sungai Kim Kim around late July 2021 might have alarmed the nearby residents as the effects of water pollution is visibly harmful to the ecosystem in general. Not to mention, they may actually have yet to fully recover from the 2019 toxic waste pollution repercussion. Approximately two years after the initial incidents of Sungai Kim Kim, this river is once again became trending. On 28 July 2021, the Department of Environment (DOE) has given its response to a public complaint report by investigating the causes of the blackened river water of Sungai Kim Kim. The preliminary investigation report stated that the water pollution was caused by poor management of wastewater disposal from nearby non-industry premises due to the operation of a certain maintenance work. In short, people might feel worried about the effects of water pollution that might harm them, hence the report was made.
Why Sungai Kim Kim and Pollution is such a big deal in Malaysia? Does it have something to do with the effects of water pollution?
To answer the last question, yes for the most recent case as river water quality assessments needed to be carried out. In a general perspective, this incident raises quite numerous concerns from Malaysian netizens because as mentioned before, the Sungai Kim Kim and its nearby dwellings would be the most affected by the news as they might not have yet fully recovered from the shock of almost similar incidents back in 2019.
In case if you missed it, we prepared a brief recap of the initial incidents and the effects of water pollution as well as its repercussion as follows (based on a report from the Academy of Science Malaysia):
Back on 7 March 2019, there were numerous reports of people nearby Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Taman Pasir Puteh, Johor fell ill. The report stated that the patients, mostly students from the said schools suffered from eye irritation, chest pain, sore throat, coughing, fever and vomiting. These symptoms have actually shown the effects of water pollution on public health. This incident was followed by the second wave on 11 March 2019 and soon after the third one on 13 March 2019. It is said that the total affected count was 5,039 individual cases and 111 schools were closed. The investigations by the authorities found many traces of illegal chemical waste dumping under a bridge in Sungai Kim Kim, 1km upstream from SK Taman Pasir Putih during the first wave.
Cleaning works by numerous agencies such as MPPG, JAS and Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran (JPS) near the affected site on 14 March 2019 – Picture source: AstroAwani
Some of the chemical waste traced was acrylonitrile, acrolein, benzene, hydrogen chloride, toluene, xylene, ethylbenzene and D-limonene in the environmental samples collected. The relation with the effects of water pollution back then was mostly due to the effects that these chemicals were unstable.
A massive clean-up effort was followed up and the toxic chemical poisoning incident was declared over on 4 April 2019…until another similar national outbreak recurred in June 2019. This time, the area affected was in Pasir Gudang, Johor which is merely a few distances away from the first toxic waste hazard outbreak 3 months prior. Although the second incident back then ruled out the possibility of Sungai Kim Kim becoming the source of the said incident, it is safe to say that the damage has been done. People become highly alert when such things happen again to areas close to Sungai Kim Kim since they have been traumatised by the effects of the water pollution, as well as toxic waste pollution before.
The biggest fallout that came from the Sungai Kim Kim incident back in 2019 was various adverse health effects as it greatly influenced humans quality of life. People were also forced to evacuate and leave their homes when the said disaster happen back then. After all, it was the largest chemical emergency outbreak recorded in the country since the date this article was produced.
The Challenge for Industries Affected Under Various Circumstances Related to The Current Law and Legislation
While there are various passing numbers of environmental-related policies and regulations in the last decades to prevent such incidents, the reality is that there will always be any forms of environmental challenges around. People can always make reports to the authorities to take action and punish those offenders, but the cycle will always continue regardless. Hence, the role of an Environmental Consultant become more robust and crucial these days. They are expected to be among the people or organisations who are most fluent with the Environmental Law and its regulations. The main law for this area would be the Environment Quality Act (EQA) 1974 and its subsidiary legislation such as various scheduled wastes and so on. It is not easy to become such practitioners in this area as they must first become registered and pass various professional tests as stipulated by the government.
In a less jargon manner, the good Environmental Consultants are highly trained to come out with mitigation plans or actions to reduce available pollutions resulting from the by-product of many industrial activities, from various stages of operation. It is also a general consensus that a well-executed plan may also help reduce the related cost.
Controlling the Effects of Water Pollution – Hire a Consultant
Velcro Envirotech Sdn Bhd (VETSB) is an independent company offering a workable, manageable, achievable technical solution to various environmental challenges. Our technical team and consultants have more than 20 years of experience in environmental pollution control engineering and waste management. Past Project: Belum Rainforest Resort was developed by MKN Group Sdn Bhd situated on the fringe of Royal Belum Temenggor forest complex, set in the midst of a tropical paradise, Pulau Banding. It is considered as an environmental sensitive area due to its geographical location at the upstream of Sungai Perak. Should you have further enquiries, you may contact Cik Haza (017-5004744) to arrange an appointment. For more of our latest news and information, click here.
This article is for public general information purposes only. It is not meant to be used or constructed as advice in any manner.
