THREE ANGLERS ALLEGEDLY INVOLVED IN SUNGAI SELANGOR FUEL POLLUTION

Selangor police chief Datuk Noor Azam Jamaludin, said workers of a sand dredging company at the site had told police that the trio were spotted fishing near a pontoon (belonging to the company).

He added that preliminary investigation showed that the cover of a fuel tank on the pontoon had been removed resulting in about 100 litres of diesel flowing into the river.

Noor Azam added that based on a police report lodged, the complainant from the company (Syarikat Two-B Machineries Sdn Bhd), said it could also be an act of mischief.

“Two or three days ago, the company’s workers had told three anglers not to fish in the area but they had ignored the workers. Perhaps they were unhappy at being reprimanded and may have decided to sabotage the workers by pulling off the cover from the fuel tank,” he told reporters here today.

He added that while the company had stopped its sand dredging activities over the last  two months, it had stationed its workers there to keep its machinery safe as it was not a prohibited area.

He said police were tracking down the group of anglers who were said to have come to the location on  Honda EX5 motorcycles which had no vehicle registration numbers.

However, he said a thorough investigation was being carried out to ascertain if the incident was due to the negligence of certain parties.

Noor Azam said the case was being investigated under Section 430 of the Penal Code for committing mischief.

Yesterday, Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) said that that diesel contamination was detected in the Sungai Selangor Phases 1, 2 and 3 and Rantau Panjang water treatment plant from the river.

It then had to shut down the plants in stages from 6 pm to 8.15 pm yesterday but reopened them at 3.30 am today.- BERNAMA