obmar
|
Clean or is it?2007/08/09
Sungai Gatom area now 'clean'
Email to friend Email to Friend Print article Print Article
KUALA LUMPUR: After the evacuation of 700 people and the closure of six schools, the thousands of tonnes of toxic waste around the Sungai Gatom area have finally been cleaned up.
It took nearly 20 months for the clean-up process to be completed.
The massive clean-up closes the chapter on the infamous illegal toxic waste dump site in Labis, Johor, which saw the initial evacuation of the residents and the closure of the schools.
The schools were later re-opened and the residents allowed to return home.
Department of Environment director-general Datuk Rosnani Ibarahim said yesterday that it had cost RM5 million to clear up the 11,000 tonnes of aluminium dross from the river banks and surrounding areas.
Rosnani was speaking to reporters at a press conference held on the second day of the Waste Management Conference and Exhibition 2007 here. Also present was Natural Resources and Environment Deputy Minister Datuk S. Sothinathan.
It was initially estimated that only about 500 tonnes of toxic waste had been dumped at the Sungai Gatom area.
But scheduled waste treatment facility, Kualiti Alam Sdn Bhd, which was hired to clean up the site, later found that the dump site was three metres deep.
The waste had been dumped in the area since December 2005 by a contractor hired by a chemical company in Malacca.
Sothinathan, meanwhile, warned offenders that the mandatory jail sentence would take effect soo
|
The Inquisitor
|
They need to fine that company that dumped the toxic waste in the first place. Only by going after the culprits will things improve.
|
|
|
|