IPOH, April 10 — Factories allowed to operate during the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) have been directed to ensure that all pollution control devices are functioning properly to prevent any unwanted incidents.

Environment Minister Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the ministry would also ask all the factories to ensure that scheduled waste management be carried out effectively to avoid pollution that could endanger the environment and the well-being of the people.

"I also urge the public to report any environmental pollution to the Department of Environment (DOE),” he said in a statement today after the Sungai Meru pollution here went viral.

The pollution is believed to have been caused by the dumping of industrial effluent by a glove factory in the Taman Meru Industrial Park, Jelapang.

Speaking of the incident, Tuan Ibrahim said the Perak DOE had taken samples from the factory and a nearby drain to be sent to the Chemist Department, while the dead fish found in the river would be handed over to the State Fisheries Department for analysis. 

Earlier, state Islamic and Information Committee chairman Mohd Akmal Kamaruddin blamed the pollution, covering about one kilometre of the river, on the carelessness of two factory workers.

Mohd Akmal, who is also the acting Science, Environment and Green Technology Committee chairman, said the two workers had forgotten to turn off the valve of a tank after washing it, thus causing the raw rubber material to be flushed out into Sungai Meru. — Bernama