RESIDENTS living near Sg Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang, Johor, where toxic waste dumping in March 2019 led to hundreds of schoolchildren being hospitalised and thousands more falling sick, are still waiting for the state government to resolve several issues.

Some have yet to receive compensation promised by Johor.

Residents met by The Malaysian Insight also said they are still waiting for news about action taken against those responsible.

“The government promised compensation of between RM200 and RM500, but not everyone affected has received it,” said Mohd Rafee Abdullah.

“When we badgered the authorities for answers, only then did they say the compensation will be paid in stages. They asked us to be patient.

“Before that, they never told us about staggered payments, phase one, phase two and so on,” said the deputy chairman of the Taman Pasir Putih residents’ anti-pollution action committee.

According to Rafee, 47, in his housing area, there are 766 people entitled to compensation but only 462 have received it.

His account differs from news reports on October 13, 2019, where Johor Menteri Besar Dr Sahruddin Jamal handed out RM200 compensation to 740 people, who had been admitted for treatment on regular wards, and RM500 to 26 others who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).

“What about the factories responsible for dumping the waste? Are they are still operating as usual, or have the alleged offenders been detained?”

“The authorities have not told the residents anything,” Rafee said.

He said the residents’ action committee has lodged a police report, aside from submitting three memoranda to the authorities.

One memorandum was handed over to former menteri besar Osman Sapian, and two to Sahruddin, first when he was the state exco for environment and the second after he replaced Osman as menteri besar.

Rafee also said he submitted a report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in April last year.

“Yet everything is still silent,” said Rafee, whose son who was among pupils admitted to hospital after breathing in fumes from the polluted river.

In the latest memorandum submitted to the menteri besar in August 2019, the action committee listed five items it wanted the state administration to address: communicate and work with those affected, protect their welfare, ensure compensation is paid and prevent such incidents from recurring.

Rafee said he also met Sahruddin to forward residents’ complaints on the delay in compensation.

“We met face to face after a programme at the mosque. When I raised the issue with him, he just said: ‘we’ll do it’,” Rafee added.

Meanwhile, a teacher at a school in the affected area said pupils at his school have been paid their compensation, including getting a new set of uniforms.

“The affected pupils received their compensation and new school uniforms. No issue there.

“After the incident, there have been no recurrences and we hope we all can take care of our environment,” said the teacher who declined to be named.

A survey by The Malaysian Insight along Sg Kim Kim earlier this week found the riverbank overgrown with bushes and a sizeable population of monitor lizards.

Ahyanuddin Yahya, 64, who lives in another housing area close to the river, said his main concern is action against polluters and those responsible for last year’s incident, to deter others from polluting the river.

“Since the pollution incident last year, there have been no more incidents but we want to know about those responsible, what action has been taken against them.

“What is the penalty? Is this factory still operating? No one knows,” he said.

Three men, including a Singaporean, from a used tyre processing company were charged with dumping chemical waste into Sg Kim Kim in March 2019, soon after the incident.

Two of the men, company directors, were charged with another 15 counts of breaching environmental regulations.

In July last year, 171 people sued the state government over the pollution, which made 6,000 ill and forced 111 schools to close.

On August 4, last year, the state director of the Johor Department of Environment Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaafar was reported to have said that all the factories in Pasir Gudang had been ordered to install toxic waste emission control equipment at their factories.

He said the equipment would allow the monitoring of factory waste discharge data for up to 24 hours. – February 19, 2020.