Four Owners Of Factory That Led To Massive Water Cut Have Been Arrested

Sweet, sweet justice.

Screenshot from TV Selangor/YouTube

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Sweet justice is (almost) served as the four owners of the Rawang factory suspected to cause the odour pollution incident that led to the massive Klang Valley water cut have been arrested.

Who said what: Selangor police chief Datuk Noor Azam Jamaludin said the four men, who were arrested during an operation carried out from 11pm until 12.30am last night, 4 September. They were picked up from their homes or detained when they reported at the Gombak district police station. The police will apply for a remand order at the Selayang Court today, 5 September, to carry out further investigations.

How did it get here:The machinery maintenance factory factory, located at the Sungai Gong Industrial Area in Rawang was revealed to be a repeat offender. It was revealed that Yip Chee Seng & Sons Sdn Bhd was actually compounded RM60,000 a few months ago by the Department of Environment (JAS).

Selangor Environment, Green Technology, Science, Technology and Innovation, and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Hee Loy Sian oversees an enforcement officer barring the entrance of a factory in Rawang, believed to have caused the odour pollution of Sungai Selangor, on September 3, 2020.
(Credit: Remy Arifin/ Selangorkini)

This time, the factory was alleged to have released solvent into Sungai Gong that then led to the shutdown of four water treatment plants that disrupted water supply to nearly 1,300 areas in the Klang Valley. The factory has been seized and ordered to close.

The sudden water cut and subsequent announcement that it would take another four days to restore led to widespread outrage of social media, with many infuriated Malaysians demanding that the factory be shut down and owners face harsh punishments.

The top management of Yip Chee Seng & Sons Sdn Bhd should be imprisoned. Section 277 of the Penal Code – Fouling the water of a public spring or reservoir. 3 months in prison. It should be 12 years. #Treason #ActOfTerrorism
— Nick (@Nicholas_Gomez) September 4, 2020

"0" ton adalah perkataan keramat sekarang.

"Air dah ada!" adalah kegembiraan yang dinanti-nantikan.

Sementara itu.. maki dulu tuan punya kilang. pic.twitter.com/sG1Da1SICu
— Jeffri Salleh (@JeffriMS) September 4, 2020

Yip Chee Seng & Sons Sdn. Bhd. … repeat offenders behind the pollution that led to water cuts. Why isn't the mainstream media in Malaysia talking about this company? Hold them accountable. RM58M in current assets. An RM60k fine is nothing. Throw the directors in prison. pic.twitter.com/BTGMBwKHSA
— Nick (@Nicholas_Gomez) September 5, 2020

Angry Malaysians have also attacked the factory on Google reviews.
(Screenshot from Google)

Why it matters: Sungai Gong is one of the rivers that flows into Sungai Sembah, which feeds into the Sungai Selangor where the Rantau Panjang water treatment plant is located 17 kilometres downstream.

Industrial area waste into the river has also been the source of several unscheduled water cuts in the past decade, including the infamous 2013 water crisis on Merdeka day. In 2020 alone, Klang Valley has experienced three separate unscheduled water cuts due to river pollution incidents.

MB: Kilang punca gangguan air Selangor, KL disita dan dikenakan kompaun (Malaysiakini)

Culprits Of Pollution Caught, But Selangoreans May Expect At Least 4 Days Of Water Cuts (TRP)

This Is Why Klang Valley Keeps Getting Water Cuts & It’s Annoying AF (TRP)

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Source: Four brothers held over Sungai Gong pollution incident