IPOH, Jan 20 — Villagers of Taman Chepor Indah here are appealing to the authorities to clamp down on the dumping of a powdery material, alleged to be chemical waste, into a disused mining pond in their village since early last week.
Mohd Adni Mohamed said his 58-year-old wife had been down with asthma after the particles from the waste were blown into his house, which is about 50 metres from the pond.
“I decided to move here five years ago as I wanted to enjoy the kampung life but somehow it has now turned into a bane for my family,” he said.
Speaking to reporters at the site here today, the retired civil servant said as a result of the dumping, he had to close all his windows and doors at his home to prevent the dust from coming in.
“My grandchildren are also staying with me. So far they have not been affected by the dust yet but you may not know whether they will be affected if the dumping activity continues,” he said. Fellow villager Meor Salleh Shaharani, 54, said the pond had long been used as a dumping ground.
“It’s only recently that industrial waste is being dumped there,” he said.
Meor said villagers are also worried roads leading to the village might be destroyed due to lorries ferrying the waste into the village.
“They normally come in at 10am with the last trip at 5pm,” he said.
Meor said villagers heard that the dumping was to facilitate building of houses on site.
“If that is true, they should use either earth or other types of waste and not industrial waste,” he said.
He added the pond used to be a place for villagers to relax and fish.
“There used to be a lot of fish but now all the fish in the pond have died due to pollution from the waste,” he claimed.
Ulu Chepor village chief Md Zuki Abd Rahman, 53, said he had forwarded the villagers’ concern to the Department of Environment (DOE).
“From far it looks like sand but on closer inspection it is actually industrial waste,” he said, adding that daily, up to 10 lorries would dump waste in the pond or the pond’s surrounding area.
When contacted, Perak DOE director Noraziz Adinan said he had taken note of the villagers’ complaints and investigations are underway.
“I will get further information from the officer in charge of the investigation,” he said, adding that the owner of the pond would also be hauled up to check whether necessary approval had been obtained for the dumping exercise.
