Penang sets up taskforce to monitor state’s waters

The Malay Mail OnlineThe Malay Mail Online – Wed, Feb 12, 2014

GEORGE TOWN, Feb 12 — Outcry over “black water” at Sungai Batu Ferringhi last week and surfacing reports of befouled rivers here have pushed Penang to form a river and marine pollution taskforce to prevent further contamination of water in the state.

Local government and traffic management state executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow said the taskforce will include multiple government agencies, with the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) as the secretariat.

“The taskforce’s immediate responsibility is to visit all the rivers and the coast on the island and the mainland to monitor the levels of pollution,” he said in a press conference today.

Representatives from both local councils, the Department of Environment (DoE), district offices, state economic planning unit, Public Works Department (PWD) as well as the fisheries, agriculture, and veterinary departments will all be involved in the taskforce.

Last week, there was public outrage over a patch of “black water” in the sea in Batu Ferringhi, allegedly from the Sungai Batu Ferringhi.

Tests showed that the water contained E.coli bacteria, which the state alleged originated from a waste treatment plant operated by Indah Water Konsortium (IWK).

IWK later denied polluting the river and insisted that it only released treated effluent into the river.

Today, Chow said the taskforce will also identify all sewage treatment plants located in the state and monitor the release of effluent from these plants.

“We may even require IWK to submit fortnightly and monthly reports to the taskforce so that we have a better picture of the effluent discharge from these plants,” he said.

On the rehabilitation of polluted rivers in the state, Chow said a pilot project to restore Sungai Pinang — once ranked as one of the seven most polluted rivers in the country — had shown promising results.

The pilot project, conducted between 2010 and 2011, used the infinitesimal Quantum Persistent Reflection (iQPR) technology to clean up the river up to Class Two from the previous Class Four.

A Class Four river is considered a dead river where no marine life survives, while Class One is for rivers with crystal clear water.

“At one point, Sungai Pinang was a Class Two when the iQPR was being implemented but since it had ended, the river is now at Class Three,” Chow said.

Due to the success of the project, the state has allocated RM5.8 million to continue with the project at Sungai Pinang to bring the river back to Class Two.

“We hope we can use this iQPR technology in all the polluted rivers in the whole state but this could cost up to RM100 million, depending on how many rivers,” he said.

He hoped the federal government will consider funding the rehabilitation of the rivers in the state for the sake of the environment.