Energy, Science, Technology, Environment, and Climate Change MinisterYeo Bee Yin said she would provide an update on the issue of illegal plastic recycling factories next week.

“We’ll do an update press conference. We have taken a lot of action, but we will do an update next week,” she told reporters when asked after a press conference in Putrajaya today.

She added that members of the public with information about illegal plastic recycling facilities should lodge a report with the Department of Environment, and not only raise the issue with the media.

Yeo said this when asked to respond to a report published by Free Malaysia Today this morning highlighting the issue of pollution in Port Klang that is caused by the illegal recycling facilities.

Previously, Yeo had led a crackdown on illegal plastic recycling facilities and said 100 such facilities would be shut down in the first quarter of this year. Of these, 61 plants in Kuala Langat and Klang were already subject to enforcement action according to a Bernama report last year.

However, the Free Malaysia Today report claimed that more illegal plastic recycling facilities have sprung up, and have been openly burning plastic waste and dumping plastic and other pollutants into the waterways.

In turn, the pollution has reportedly affected the fishermen along Sungai Chandong, who are catching far fewer fish than they did a year ago.