TWO people were detained in Kota Baru over the pollution of a river, which brought operations at two treatment plants to a stop for three days, said Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani.

The deputy inspector-general of police said the two were picked up at noon yesterday and sent to Nilai last night.

“The investigation is being done by Nilai police. I can’t comment further on this,” he told reporters at the police training college in Cheras today.

They are being investigated under Section 430 of the Penal Code after the National Water Commission (SPAN) lodged a police report.

Preliminary investigations show that the water pollution detected in Sg Semenyih, Selangor, originated from an industrial area about 30km away in Negri Sembilan.

Some 300,000 households in the Klang Valley were left without water for three days since last Sunday after the two treatment plants that draw supply from Sg Semenyih were shut down following the contamination.

The latest shutdown comes hardly a month after a similar incident left households with dry taps for six days.

Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd head of communication Elina Baseri said consumers in 273 areas that covered the Petaling, Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat and Sepang districts were affected.

Last month, 1.2 million consumers in the Klang Valley were left without water when four treatment plants – Sg Selangor Phase, 1, 2 and 3, as well as Rantau Panjang – stopped operations because of river pollution.

A machinery maintenance factory was suspected of dumping pollutants into the Sg Gong, which feeds Sg Selangor.

Four brothers were later arrested for allegedly polluting the river and charged at the Selayang Sessions Court.

Also charged was a workshop manager of the brothers’ machinery maintenance yard in Rawang.

The four brothers were Yip Kok Wai, 53, Yip Kok Mun, 58, Yip Kok Kun, 50, and Yip Kok Weng, 60, and are the company directors of Yip Chee Seng & Sons Sdn Bhd.

The manager is Ho Voon Leong, 59.

All five pleaded not guilty to the charge of “mischief by injury to works of irrigation” and to discharging scheduled waste in the environment leading to the pollution without licence. – October 7, 2020.