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No. 4738 PP 2644/12/2009 (023092)

Wednesday
April 15, 2009
TELLING IT AS IT IS www.sun2surf.com

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Archuleta pg17

Treatment plant
sludge goes
back into river
by Maria J. Dass
newsdesk@thesundaily.com

PETALING JAYA: Traces of effluents and

sludge from a water treatment plant in
Bukit Badong has been found in monsoon
drains that flow directly into Sungai Se-
Not present ... The empty seats of the
langor, the very river from which it draws
absent assemblymen at yesterday’s
water, a Department of Environment

BERNAMAPIX
sitting; (inset) Abdul Halim shows the
investigation has revealed.
threatening SMS and police report.
Acting on public complaints, the DOE
conducted checks at the sludge lagoons.
It has instructed Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd
(PNSB), the builder, operator and manager

10 boycott sitting
of the plant, known as the Sungai Selangor
Phase 2 (SSPII) Water Treatment Plant, to
stop the flow of sludge into the drains.
The sludge is a by-product of the water
treatment process where chemicals are
used to make the sediments in the water
sink. This leaves a layer of sludge which
is then channelled to “sludge lagoons”
and thereafter to a “sludge drying bed”
located on a 40ha plot.
The sludge is categorised as scheduled
waste as it contains heavy metals and
chemicals and has to be disposed of in

accordance with World Health Organisa-
tion and health standards. There are four
sludge lagoons at the treatment plant
located over 15ha.
When contacted yesterday, Selangor
DOE director Che Asmah Ibrahim con-
firmed that investigations are going on
under the Environmental Quality Act and
that the matter will be referred to the At-
torney-General’s chambers for action.
“We view this matter seriously be-
cause the river water being treated is the
raw material used to produce clean water
and it is therefore not right to pollute this
very raw material,” she said.
“We are not satisfied with the way the
sludge from the treatment plant is being
managed.
“We have issued a notice to Puncak
Niaga to stop the discharge of sludge
and effluents into the river and if they
fail to comply, we will proceed with legal
action.”
It is learnt DOE conducted checks
» Turn to Page 2
P
UTRAJAYA: Ten of the 24 Barisan
Nasional assemblymen stayed away from
the Terengganu state assembly sitting
yesterday, fanning speculation that it was
related to a bid to oust Mentri Besar Datuk
Ahmad Said.
Their no-show on the second day of the
three-day meeting followed police reports
lodged by three of them early yesterday that
they had received “death threats” via the short
message service (SMS), warning them against
moving a no-faith motion against Ahmad.
In a swift response, Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Najib Abdul Razak told the assembly-
men to attend today’s sitting, saying that the
situation was not something unusual that could
not be managed. He said it was not a full-blown
political crisis.
“I have spoken to (Terengganu Mentri Besar)
Datuk Ahmad Said and his version was that
the SMS did not emanate from his office,” he
said after witnessing the signing of agreements
on a loan guarantee scheme at the Putrajaya
International Convention Centre. Najib said the
source of the SMS had yet to be verified.
Answering a question, he said the assem-
blymen had denied that there was an attempt
to oust Ahmad, who was appointed after the
general election.
Zakaria Abdullah, the assemblyman for
Paka and Abdul Halim Jusoh (Permaisuri)
lodged reports at the Kuala Terengganu district
police headquarters about 12.40am yesterday
and Datuk Rosol Wahid (Ajil) lodged his at the
Hulu Terengganu police Hq in Kuala Berang 10
minutes earlier, Bernama reported.
Abdul Halim said that they received the SMS
about 11.20pm on Monday from a person they
knew after checking the number from the state
government’s official diary. They were warned
not to pursue their intention, believed to be a
move to table a no-confidence motion against
Ahmad at the current assembly meeting.
BN holds 24 seats in the 32-seat assembly.
The rest are held by PAS. Aside from the three
who lodged police reports, the others who did
not turn up for the sitting were former mentri
besar Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh (Jertih), Muham-
mad Ramli Nuh (Tepuh), Mohd Zawawi Ismail
(Kuala Berang), Datuk Din Adam (Bukit Besi),
Alias Abdullah (Alor Limbat), Ramlan Ali (Jabi)
and Mohd Pehimi Yusof (Kota Putera).
Umno is divided on the issue of who should
be the mentri besar, a problem that arose from
the 2008 general election.
Idris was then prime minister Tun Abdul-
lah Ahmad Badawi’s pick but the Terengganu
palace opposed the move. The sultan backed
Ahmad for the top post and after a public stand-
off, Abdullah relented.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin
Yassin said the BN assemblymen’s failure to
attend the sitting will not jeopardise the position
of BN as it had a sizeable majority with 24 seats
compared to the Opposition’s eight.
He said he had a meeting with the disgrun-
tled assemblymen a few days ago but he had yet
to be briefed on the latest update. He also said
he will meet MB Ahmad to find out more.
In Kuala Terengganu, Ahmad said he had
no idea why the assemblymen were absent and
that they had got SMS death threats. He said he
was not surprised by their action and would not
contact them for an explanation.
“Not attending the State Assembly sitting
is normal for politicians ... I will not persuade
them to come (tomorrow),” he said, avoiding
many questions posed to him.
Asked on the senior government officer who
was linked to the SMS, Ahmad said he left it to
the police to act.