STOP making excuses about sabotage to divert attention from your own incompetence.
Speaking to FocusM, Consumer Association of Subang & Shah Alam (Cassa) president Datuk Jacob George said the authorities should be careful when claiming sabotage to explain the unending water disruptions in Selangor.
“If the continuous water disruptions are the result of sabotage, why wasn’t there a task force comprising of local council, special forces, immigration and other relevant parties to look into the issue?
“Sabotage is a lame excuse and people should be careful. Is it a political sabotage? Or is it just factories dumping material illegally into our rivers?
George, a veteran consumer advocate, is convinced that the allegation is thrown around to justify the authorities’ lack of oversight.
“Don’t insult the intelligence of the rakyat. It’s becoming a joke. It has come to a breaking point. We have been traumatised and anxious; we’ve been forgiving for far too long.
“Maybe we should get a legal team together to file a case in court. Let everybody start panicking,” he suggested.
Klang MP Charles Santiago echoed George’s opinion, saying the continuous water disruption has become a terrible nuisance to the society.
“This is getting quite tiring. It’s becoming a weekly affair. There must be some level of accountability. Both the federal and state Governments need to get their act together.
“Proposals have been made and enough has been said about the issue, it’s time for action to be taken,” he commented.
Lack of political will
Santiago said that 1,274 area have been affected by the recent incident and at this rate, people are getting fed up with it.
“The Department of Environment (DOE) must take scheduled waste management seriously and every company needs to have a scheduled waste management system in place.
“Install trackers in all vehicles transporting waste, to capture what is happening,” said Santiago, who was also the former chairman of the National Water Services Commission (SPAN).
However, the DAP leader said the Government lacked the political will to act against the saboteurs.
“There should be a complete revamp of all waste management agencies. How long do we go on like this? The poor are affected the most,” he said.
The Rantau Panjang Water Treatment Plant along with the Sungai Selangor Water Treatment Plants 1, 2 and 3 were shut down last night due to odour pollution in the raw water intake, said Air Selangor.
However, the utility firm said all returned to operation at 5am this morning after the pollutant was successfully removed.
Air Selangor said the shutdown may cause supply disruptions to 861 areas in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling, Klang, Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor, Gombak and Hulu Langat.
“We will restore water supply in stages starting 3pm today,” the state water authority added. – Dec 8, 2020.
