SHAH ALAM, 17 June: Selangor Executive Councillor Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi today publicly stated his readiness to demonstrate drinking water from former mines to prove its safety.
Yunus who was met at the Selangor State Assembly lobby did not mind performing the demonstration, and in fact, said that the Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, had stated the same thing.
“Insya-Allah (God willing), we can arrange to drink the water because the other day, the Chief Minister said that if you really do not believe it, we can drink the mine water,” he said.
Yesterday, the non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), urged the Selangor Executive Councillors to demonstrate drinking water from mine pools to prove the supply’s level of safety.
Its Director, Cynthia Gabriel, said that this is to convince consumers due to conflicting statements that have come up regarding the content of heavy metals in the mining pools.
Commenting on the source of water supply to address the El Nino drought, Yunus said that the State Government is confident that it is enough for a period of four to five months, based on the water storage at dams.
Yunus (PAS-Sijangkang) said that cloud seeding, which will be carried out, will also be able to accommodate the water needs of the consumers in Selangor, the Klang Valley and Putrajaya.
“Perceptions suggest that we are only relying on mine water, but actually, the State Government is making these pools reservoirs for when Sungai Selangor has a surplus. It will be drawn for storage.
“I cannot guarantee 100 percent that the water supply is sufficient, but with the storage, including cloud seeding, we expect to last up to four to five months,” he said.
NS
