1,000 Tonnes of Toxic Waste Removed

MUAR, Mon. – About 1,000 tonnes of aluminium dross toxic waste has been removed from the Sungai Gatom riverbank in Labis over the last 11 days.

However, it is learnt that several thousand tonnes are still buried in the area.

Segamat district officer Datuk Md Alwee Abdul Rashid, who is also the district natural disaster director, said since the removal operations began on Jan 13, about 1,000 tonnes of the material had been ferried by lorries to the Kualiti Alam treatment facility in Bukit Nanas, Negri Sembilan.

“The operation will continue until we are satisfied that all the waste has been removed,” he said.

Villagers in Sungai Gatom complained of nausea after inhaling ammonia gas on Jan 8.

Checks by the Department of Environment revealed that the ammonia gas was from an illegal toxic waste site of aluminium dross, buried in a privately-owned rubber plantation in Sungai Gatom.

A factory in Malacca had used the rubber plantation as an illegal dumpsite since last October.

About a week ago, two other sites were discovered in Jalan Haji Musa, Batu 8, and Batu 9 3/4 off Jalan Yong Peng-Labis.