KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusoff has passed an emergency motion to debate the toxic chemical waste dumping incident in Pasir Gudang, Johor today.
He said the motion, which was tabled by Hassan Abdul Karim (PH-Pasir Gudang), was passed considering it was of the interest of the public and a matter of urgency.
Mohamad Ariff has set aside one hour for the motion to be debated today at 4.30pm.
“I have considered the matter, and found that the motion filed today fulfilled the requirements of being specific, of public interest, and is urgent.
“As such, I will allow the emergency motion to be debated at 4.30pm for 60 minutes,” he told the Dewan Rakyat, here today.
Hassan had called for the Dewan Rakyat proceedings today to be suspended temporarily to make way for the emergency motion to be debated, citing the extent of the damage the chemical pollution has caused the area.
He also called for the government to immediately declare a state of emergency for Pasir Gudang, after over 500 individuals were landed in hospital and nine placed in the intensive care unit, following the dumping of toxic waste into Sungai Kim Kim.
The government had yesterday also ordered a total of 111 schools in and around Pasir Gudang closed pending further notice, after the situation reached a “critical” level.
Earlier during the proceedings, Hassan had called for the Parliament to put aside formalities to discuss the matter, after claiming the Speaker had told him that the matter would only be debated on Monday.
“This morning I had submitted a letter to the speaker seeking for an emergency motion to be tabled and debated today, not delay it until next Monday,” he had said.
