In a statement, IWK CEO Narendran Maniam said IWK had nothing to do with the odour pollution in September 2019 which caused the shutdown of the Air Selangor water treatment plant.
The particular case mentioned in the Selangor state assembly had been “clearly taken out of context,” and was an “isolated predicament”, he said.
State executive councillor in charge of the environment Hee Loy Sian told the state assembly on Thursday that IWK had pleaded guilty to the offences under Section 25(1) of the Environmental Quality Act.
“They were fined RM15,000 for polluting the Air Selangor water treatment plant,” he said in reply to a question from state opposition leader Rizam Ismail (BN-Sungai Air Tawar).
Narendran said today that in September 2019, there was an interruption to the flow of wastewater in IWK’s sewer pipeline after it was damaged by a third party contractor.
In response, IWK had “no choice but to immediately activate a temporary emergency bypass pipe,” to avoid overflowing that would affect the public. It also informed all the relevant stakeholders about the matter.
He said that the shutdown of the Air Selangor water treatment plant in September 2019 was due to odour pollution stemming from illegal dumping, and added that the RM15,000 fine levied on IWK was not related to this incident or the plant’s shuttering.
“Taken out of context, it would seem as though IWK is polluting, when in actual fact, IWK is doing its level best to protect and preserve the environment, particularly our water source,” Narendran said.
“IWK had been taking the fall for many incidents because we are an easy target. It’s time to stop blaming us.”
He said that as of September 2020, IWK’s level of compliance to the Environmental Quality (Sewage) Regulation stood at 97.1%, which is higher than its compliance level of 96% in 2019.
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