THE factory behind Selangor’s latest river pollution that led to a massive water cut must vacate the premises, said Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari.

The state will issue Notice 7A to vacate the premises on Monday, as the Rawang factory has breached conditions set by the Gombak District and Land Office.

Amirudin, addressing a press conference at the Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd head office in Kuala Lumpur today, said the heavy machinery maintenance facility had proceeded with operations despite not obtaining planning and development approval to erect the buildings on the site.

“They have caused hardship to 1.197 million account holders. On Monday, the Gombak District and Land Office will issue Notice 7A to the factory for it to vacate the premises.

“We are ordering the owner to vacate the land and cease operations completely.”

The factory cannot operate for the next three or four months under local authority rules, but Amirudin said Selangor is “looking at all aspects to decide whether it should be allowed to reopen at all”.

“We have also told Tenaga Nasional Bhd to cut power supply to the factory, to ensure that they do not operate.”

He said the buildings on the site will be demolished within this period.

The factory has been closed since Thursday, when pollution by the facility forced the closure of four treatment plants that draw water from Sg Selangor, disrupting supply to consumers across the Klang Valley.

The factory has been identified as belonging to Yip Chee Seng & Sons Sdn Bhd/AAY Construction Sdn Bhd.

State environment exco Hee Loy Sian has said the facility failed to store used machine oil and diesel properly, allowing them to flow into Sg Gong, which is a Sg Selangor tributary.

It is a repeat offender, having been fined RM60,000 in March for a pollution offence.

Police have arrested and obtained a six-day remand against four brothers said to be running the factory.

Amirudin said water supply to consumers is being restored in stages.

The four plants resumed operations last night for cleaning and flushing purposes following clean-up works in the river. – September 5, 2020.