YOURSAY | 'To ensure this will never happen again, many more uncomfortable truths need to come out.'

S'gor MB: Factory behind pollution incident to be demolished

Malaysia Bharu: Is this a joke? You mean all this while the city council was not aware the factory was operating illegally? Not even when they polluted the river earlier when they were fined RM60,000?

And is Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari maintaining this is the only factory operating illegally near the river? The MB's explanation does not convince us that this illegal factory will not operate at its present site any time in the future.

The MB is not only trying to hide the pumpkin in his plate of rice, why is he spinning the issue? Whose onus is it to demolish the illegal structure? Is it not the council's?

Local councils are well known for selectively demolishing as well as confiscating the goods of poor roadside vendors eking out a living from scraps. So why the feet-dragging, riddle talk and hesitation when it concerns illegal factories and alleged criminals that knowingly endanger our lives?

When did this factory commence operations and why has it been allowed to operate illegally all this while? The Selayang City Council and the Selangor government owe the people an explanation.

Andrew Khoo: If this company is a repeat offender, why wasn’t the demolition order made when the first compound was issued?

If there was no planning permission for the structure on the land, that would have been so even on the first occasion, no?

Sphzxcv: River pollution by factories has been going on for a long time. The main cause of all these problems is corruption.

Corruption is rapidly destroying our country and our natural resources. Vast tracts of our forests have been cleared for timber through illegal means. In Sarawak, logging licences have been given to cronies through corruption.

We see corruption happening every day, but the government turns a blind eye to it.

Newday: Obviously, this heavy machinery maintenance workshop is well-known as it has been a serial pollution offender.

Only now, after massive public outcry, is the recognition given that it should not have been there in the first place. Who was “paid” to look the other way from the time it was built until today?

This is no shanty structure. It is a proper business. The Selayang City Council cannot state it didn’t know its existence.

The business continued operating right until this week. Where was the monitoring and enforcement due to this factory’s history of pollution?

One uncomfortable truth has been uncovered. To change and make sure our worst water disruption never happens again, many more uncomfortable truths need to come out.

MS: Indeed, a lot of smoke is being blown by the MB to make sure attention is on this alleged polluter and does not raise other embarrassing questions:

1. Why was the factory allowed to continue operating after its previous polluting incident?

2. How an unlicensed operation without planning permission from the Selayang City Council went undetected for so long?

3. How such an outfit was able to apply for, and obtain, water and electricity supply over the years?

4. What Pengurusan Air Selangor has been doing, specifically, to check on pollution sources and how frequently?

Also, being deliberately obscured are facts and figures about who has been awarded licences for the disposal of hazardous waste and how much they charge.

As with everything else in this corrupt country, I believe a number of crooks, enablers and gofers are scrambling for cover even as politicians do their best to keep the lid on things that will expose their incompetence and what could well be their collusion that enables shady businesses to operate with no fear of consequences.

BlueKucing0750: If they did not have the planning permission, how could they have been operating for some time without the knowledge of the enforcement people?

Explain to us how they can slip through. Was somebody was sleeping on the job?

What about the other illegal factories within the water catchment areas? Surely, this company is not the only one.

GrayGiraffe0679: What assurance is there that the contamination will not recur?

We might as well just revoke the operating licence if there are no safety standards for handling waste but to dump it in the country's waterways.

Why should consumers suffer inconveniences again and again?

Quo Vadis Malaysia: Initially, I was as furious as anyone else at the latest incident. Water cuts due to pollution should not happen at all.

So why then did it happen and for the second time? It's very easy to point our fingers at this particular offender – it’s an exposed and clear target.

But if we dig deeper and ask more probing questions, we will likely find deeply entrenched mismanagement and even criminal activities with everyone connected to this issue, even the law enforcers and the town council.

Across the Straits: That is just solving the symptom, not the solution. If you were to think of the problem carefully, this is just one of many other polluters surfacing over the years.

It will take more than just closing this factory to solve the problem.

It has to be holistic and involve multi-agencies before the problem can be eliminated, but I am not hopeful with the current way the country is being governed.

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