IWK denies claims of polluting Sungai Gong

Instead, its chief executive officer Narendran Maniam said, the company has identified the presence of yellow coloured non-sewage waste inside the plant's intake chamber which caused the final effluent to be in polluted with thick yellow colour.

"IWK staff at the plant are still monitoring and controlling the sewage intake into the plant. We suspect that illegal waste dumping had occurred near our plant, which had caused the substance to flow into the plant.

"As such, we have immediately stopped effluent discharge and started a cleaning operation, expected to be completed today. Chemical dosing is being carried out to control the situation," he said in a statement here, today.

Yesterday, the media reported that the Selangor Water Management Board (Luas) received a report on an incident that the water in Sungai Gong, Rawang had turned black without the presence of odour, suspected to have been caused by dyes.

On further investigations, Luas found discoloured and foamy effluent discharge, from area 5 IWK GBK 134 plant, in Rawang Industrial Park.

Disappointed with the claim, Narendran said the matter could confuse the public besides causing them to accuse IWK, although the real source might have been caused by illegal dumping of waste.

"We are very disappointed for being frequently made as an easy target on any water pollution incident such as this one, without detailed inspection or reporting the information completely," he said, adding that the sewage treatment plant was designed to treat sewage and is unable to treat chemical or other forms of waste.

He added that illegal dumping of non-sewage waste is an offence under the Water Services Industry Act 2006.