No issue of Tasik Puteri being polluted - Ketengah chairman

According to Central Terengganu Development Authority (Ketengah) chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Said, for this reason, swimming or diving in the 131-hectare lake has always been prohibited, and not because it is polluted as being claimed.

He said while the lake water was clear and free of pollution, only activities such as boating and kayak activities were allowed in the area.

"People have not been swimming there since those days. Even locals do not swim there as they know it is a former mine with high sulphur content. Fish can't even survive there.

"We don't allow any swimming or diving activity there. If outsiders go over and indulge in diving activities, it is done at their own risk," he said after handing over drinking water to some 500 residents of Ketengah Jaya currently experiencing water supply disruption.

Ahmad also denied claims that the lake water had also polluted the waterfalls nearby, saying that both had different water sources.

In its report today, a local daily today claimed that the water in Tasik Bukit Besi, also known as Tasik Puteri, was polluted with acidic content that flowed from the water retention pond at the site of the iron ore mine.