KUALA LUMPUR: The government vows to shut down all illegal factories in Pasir Gudang through a joint enforcement operation with the Johor government this month.
Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin said she would engage Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal to have the state join the cause, “so we can put the matter to bed for good”.
The move is in response to recent cases of pollution in the industrial town.
“I would like to stress that our ministry will continue to do whatever we can in Pasir Gudang (to address the issue). I’m meeting the mentri besar to talk about cracking down on all illegal factories in Pasir Gudang. In this coming month, we will have a join operation to shut them down,” she said at the Dewan Rakyat today.
She also appealed to lawmakers and members of the public to report to her ministry if they have new information. “We will head there and shut down those factories too,” she said.
Yeo was responding to Hassan Abdul Karim (PH-Pasir Gudang) who asked if she agreed that the recent pollution cases in Pasir Gudang were due to the weaknesses of the enforcement agencies.
In dismissing this claim, she pointed out that since the first incident in Sungai Kim Kim in March, the government has increased its enforcement operations by three folds.
“And if you compare the enforcement that we have taken between January and June this year as compared to the same period last year, it has also increased by 40%,” she said.
In addition, Yeo said following the most recent pollution incident in Pasir Gudang on June 20, the ministry has inspected 172 factories, and issued 98 compounds and 46 warnings, while another nine factories have been told to cease operations.
“In addition, we have also recommended that legal action be taken against two premises,” she added.
