“I can’t quite describe the smell but at times it also smelled like rat poison. The odour was just really strong. Everyone fell sick. We were coughing and had fever.”

Locals living near the factories where plastic waste was illegally processed, told The Malaysian Insight that they suffered from various lasting ailments after inhaling toxic fumes emitted from the facilities.

Many of these factories have been shut down and Malaysia’s Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin recently sent back 10 containers of illegal plastic waste, saying 50 more will follow.

But the question remains whether these measures are enough to pull the shutters on such a lucrative industry, and reduce the toll it has already taken on locals’ health and the environment. – June 5, 2019.