Sin Chew Daily

Millions in Klang Valley were left with dry taps all of a sudden because of river pollution.

It was initially said water supply would not be resumed for at least four days but luckily things were subsequently under control and the affected water treatment plants soon resumed operation to supply clean water to urban households.

The unscheduled water cuts have sent many in Klang Valley totally unprepared and many began to grumble.

As a matter of fact, water cuts are nothing new for Kuala Lumpur and Selangor folks. How ironic it is for people living in the country's most prosperous region to suffer regular water cuts that come every now and then?

The water woes this time could be attributed to river pollution from industrial effluents from a factory. Four of the factory's owners have since been arrested.

Environment and water minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the government would prosecute the culprits under the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127) and Water Services Industries Act 2006 (Act 655).

It is right for the government to severely punish those guilty of causing water source pollution for their own convenience and interest while disrupting clean water supply to millions of households and severely impacting the operations of affected businesses.

But this is not the end of the story yet. It is imperative that the government take further steps to ensure that the problem of river pollution will not happen again in future.

This is not the first time water supply has been disrupted due to river pollution. Normally after an incident has taken place and people begin to grumble, the authorities will start taking remedial actions. Nevertheless, such targeted actions in the absence of effective long-term solutions will make it possible for severe water supply disruption to happen again after some time.

Malaysia is fortunate enough to be endowed with ample rainfall, and the frequent water cuts we have are a consequence of human mismanagement. The federal, state governments and other relevant departments must pick up a valuable lesson from the latest incident to draw up more comprehensive plans to plug the loopholes to ensure that people living in Klang Valley can be freed from the perennial woes.

To do this, we need to have more macroscopic vision. For instance, to address the issue of river pollution, it is essential for the planning authorities to take into account the zoning of industrial operations.

Selangor is a highly industrialized state with plenty of factories, including many illegal ones. Pollution is inevitable in the absence of proper planning. Although the state government has repeatedly carried out the illegal factory "bleaching" program, the progress is slow and the effects unsatisfactory.

Additionally, the authorities must enact stricter laws to deal with water source polluters.

Currently the environment and water ministry is studying to revise the law to increase the penalties for those causing the pollution. While this is absolutely necessary, the authorities should bear in mind that without consistent and effective enforcement, even the strictest laws will become useless.

Indeed the culprits involved must be severely punished, but this does not mean the government and enforcement authorities can be spared their responsibility. Why have they failed to resolve the problem after so many water cuts over the years? Illegal factories continue to operate but why have the authorities failed to take prompt actions against them?