SHAH ALAM, 7 May: Today, the Selangor Government slammed the front page news in the New Straits Times which claimed that the raw water supply from former mines used to accommodate the water demand in the Klang Valley is unsafe and toxic.
While stressing that the mine water channelled to consumers is safe, the Executive Councillor for Youth and Sports, Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi, said that allegations from the newspaper is very different from the full report received by the Selangor Water Management Authority (SWMA).
In fact, he said that the samples sent to the Department of Chemistry on May 2 also confirmed that the content of iron, magnesium, nickel and lead in the mine is under the levels allowed by the Ministry of Health.
“The NST report claimed that the led content in the mine is at 460 percent more than the permissible limit, while the Department of Chemistry confirmed that all former mines containing led are below the levels allowed by the Ministry of Health.
“The mine water is pumped into Sungai Selangor and channelled to the Sungai Selangor Dam Water Treatment Plant (WTP) and needs to pass through several treatment process for cleaning before being channelled to consumers,” he said in a press conference after the Executive Councillors meeting at the Selangor State Government Secretary’s (SUK) Building near here.
The front page report of the News Straits Times today claimed that water from former mines pumped to the dam to accommodate the needs of consumers is dangerous and has high content of metals.
The newspaper also claimed that the report was based on ‘independent’ analysis which found that the iron content in the mines is at 554 percent above safe levels, manganese (135 percent), nickel (240 percent) and lead (460 percent).
In the meantime, Yunus said that the water has to go through several treatment processes for cleaning and must pass the quality standards set before being supplied to consumers.
Yunus assured that the water that was being channelled into consumers’ pipes was treated water and not raw water, which had passed through several treatment processes.
“We stress that the state government always puts the safety of the people first and will not compromise with issues that affect the safety and prosperity of the people in the Klang Valley,” he said.
The Selangor State Council (MMKN) previously approved an allocation of RM10 million to build infrastructure for pumping water from former mines or ponds around the Sungai Selangor Basin into Sungai Selangor.
The pumping of water from former mines have already started to overcome the shortage of water at the moment.
