THERE have been no death cases from the chemical waste pollution in Sg Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang, said Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad in disputing a Facebook posting which had claimed so.

“There have been no deaths, although there was a Facebook post that declared the death of a child due to the incident,” he said at the Dewan Rakyat this afternoon while debating a motion to declare a state of emergency at the affected area.

He singled out the Facebook page that posted the false allegation, naming a Normala Sudirman as the social media user.

“It was an irresponsible action,” he said, urging people not to believe unofficial information.

Dr Dzulkefly also said there were 1,568 cases reported, with some people warded in the intensive care unit (ICU) after getting sick from the chemical waste pollution.

He said from last Thursday – the day of the incident – until yesterday, 1,171 people had received outpatient treatment while another 397 were warded.

“Seventy of the warded cases have been discharged. There were 13 people in the ICU but as of this morning, only seven are still there.”

The illegal dumping of toxic chemicals into Sg Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang more than a week ago has affected the health of thousands of people, namely students in schools along the river.

The chemicals had emitted toxic fumes that made people, including many school children, sick.

Dr Dzulkefly said the ministry had sent personnel from hospitals and clinics from several districts to treat all cases since the first day of the incident, so there was no issue of being slow to act.

He said the ministry had also made sure there were no shortages of medicines, staff and equipment in its response to the incident.

“We also deployed six psychosocial response teams as well, to give mental and emotional support to victims,” he said.

He said checks on food were also conducted to ensure food safety in the affected area, while measures were taken to ensure water from Sg Kim Kim would not pollute drinking water catchment areas.

“We will continue to work with all other agencies to ensure the people’s health and safety.

“We also advise the people not to enter the affected area or touch any contaminated items, to seek immediate medical attention if they feel ill, and to follow orders and seek information from the authorities,” he said.

Dzulkefly added that the chemical waste pollution issue, a chemical disaster faced by the country for the first time, would also be discussed in the cabinet tomorrow.

“Talking is easy but from the SOP (standard operating procedures) aspect, we had no precedent.

“It is therefore crucial for mitigation measures to be taken so the cleaning-up itself will not lead to a reactivation of the toxic chemicals,” he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Energy, Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment Minister Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis also provided updates on what the authorities were doing in response to the incident.

She said the ministry had deployed Environmental Department personnel from other states to check the 250 chemical factories in Pasir Gudang for the last three days.

“There are 13 teams, with 40 investigating officers, looking into the incident.

“The department will continue to take samples of the river water at three locations where the chemical wastes were discarded,” she said.

Isnaraissah said the army and Petronas had also sent aid in the form of personnel and equipment, while police sealed off the area to control the illegal movements of solid waste.

She added that the government had appointed additional contractors to conduct the clean-up.

“There are four contractors doing this now.

“The clean-up is most important now. We have to do it fast and in the safest way while making sure there will be no more pollution,” she said.

For the long term, Isnaraissah said an evaluation committee would be set up to study this issue, including scheduled waste tracking, monitoring and management, thoroughly and systematically.

When asked by Opposition MP Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian) on whether the government would conduct cloud seeding to create rain to help the clean-up efforts, she said she had no information on the matter at the moment.

There was no decision made this afternoon on the motion to declare an emergency on the incident.

The Dewan Rakyat sitting was adjourned and set to resume next Monday morning. – March 14, 2019.