SHAH ALAM, 13 June: The State Government will submit a statement regarding the alternative mine water as a supplementary source of water for Selangor to be presented and debated at the Selangor State Assembly (DNS) session which begins June 16.
The DNS Speaker, Hannah Yeoh, said that the Special Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (SELCAT) has called for a hearing on the matter recently.
“We have heard complaints from Members of Parliament regarding their concerns on the safety of mine water being pumped into the river (Sungai Selangor) for the consumption of consumers in Selangor.
“We have heard presentations from the Selangor Water Management Authority (LUAS) and two witnesses from the Department of Chemistry and the Selangor Department of Health,” she said during a press conference at the DNS Speaker’s Office at the Annex Building today.
Selangor Kini understands that the two departments have told SELCAT that the mine water being pumped into Sungai Selangor is safe for use.
On June 10, the Special Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (SELCAT) called for a hearing regarding the quality of mine water, which has been doubted of its safety,after being raised by some quarters.
The meeting ,which was held from 10am and ended two hours later, involved four witnesses, the Executive Councillor for Youth and Sports, Infrastructure and Public Amenities, Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi; the Director of LUAS, Md Khairi Selamat and two Members of Parliament, Wong Chen (Kelana Jaya) and Charles Santiago (Klang).
However, Dr Yunus did not participate in the hearing because he was attending the Budget 2015 Dialogue meeting at the SACC.
Charles previously urged the State Government to disclose the analysis of the mine water content due to a number of concerns raised regarding the safety of consumers in the Klang Valley.
He also moved to sue the State Government for using mine water as a source of supply to the Selangor dam basin for the residents of the Klang Valley during the water supply crisis recently.
The Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, in a comment, said that there is no need for Charles to take legal action because the State Government is ‘honoured’ to reveal the findings of the analysis which indicates that the water from the mine pool is safe to drink.
“We run tests every week. The Ministry of Health, the state and all water concessionaires conduct tests,” said Abdul Khalid in a press statement yesterday (June 12).
Khalid said that the test results can also be viewed by accessing the LUAS website.
