Batu Ferringhi: Faeces in the water!

Penang State Local Government committee chairman, Chow Kon Yeow, wants to hold Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) accountable for the human faeces that has been established as the main cause of the Sungai Batu Ferringhi pollution.

According to report, Chow said he has ordered IWK to immediately stop the discharge to prevent further degradation to the surrounding environment.

He suggests that the national sewage company should remove the sludge and dump it in another treatment plant or a landfill and upgrade the existing facility.

“The plant has reached full capacity. Sludge is coming out into the river,” he said

IWK communications senior manager, Shahrul Nizam Sulaiman, vehemently denies that the company’s pipes have been polluting Sungai Batu Ferringhi and that the chlorination of waste is practiced by the company.

"IWK is not flushing out untreated sewerage waste into the river," he said adding that IWK would comply with operational parameters underlined by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.

"Regardless of what the state government is saying, IWK will continue providing round-the-clock water treatment services in Batu Ferringhi as this is the responsibility entrusted to it by the government,” Shahrul said.

Yesterday, Chow accompanied by five other officers from various authorities along with the media , visited the plant to inspect the IWK pipes.

He expects IWK to take daily samples from the water, and the DoE to monitor the daily discharge from the IWK plant and take samples at different hours of the day,

"If IWK fails to meet the standards, DoE should take them to court."

Meanwhile, Chow also announced the RM4 million construction of a water outlet built to channel the discharge further out to sea as a part of a beach rejuvenation project.

A study has suggested that the Batu Ferringhi debacle could just be the start with more rivers possibly contaminated with E. coli too.

Dr Gasim Hayder from Universiti Teknologi Petronas' and his six researchers found large amounts of Coliform bacteria in Penang waters and E. coli.

Samples taken at the seafront in Persiaran Gurney and Tanjung Tokong, as well as from Sungai Fettes, his team discovered extremely high levels of E. coli, which could prove deadly.