JOHOR BAHRU – The Department of Environment (DOE) conducted 172 inspections on chemical premises (factories) and those handling hazardous materials, around Pasir Gudang as at 8 am on 4 July.
Johor DOE director Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaafar said that to date it has issued 98 compounds, 46 notices and nine stop operation orders, in addition to court action being recommended against two factories.
“We will continue to control the industry as much as possible, we will increase enforcement and the day and night operations we have been conducting will continue,” he told reporters after handing over a gas detector to the headmistress of Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Taman Nusa Damai, Fauziah Mamat at the school.
Wan Abdul Latiff said, with the cooperation of industry representatives in the area gas detectors were distributed to 80 schools on 4 July and targeted to distribute these tool to all 111 schools.
“Our purpose is to educate the schools so that they can measure the air quality. In the event of early detection (high reading), early action can be taken to save students from suffering breathing difficulty, dizziness and vomiting,” he said.
“If the Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) is high, the school should notify us so that we can bring the Gasmate, a specific equipment that can measure more than 50 parametres.”
Wan Abdul Latiff said the detectors would be temporarily lent to schools until Sunday, while waiting for the industry itself to supply the tool to their respective adopted schools.
“At present, we are in the midst of discussing with industry players to make it a corporate social responsibility (CSR) to adopt schools and to provide multi-gas detectors permanently to their adopted schools,” he said.
Wan Abdul Latiff said feedback was received from industry players willing to supply water purifiers to be placed in schools.
While delivering the gas detectors at Sekolah SK Taman Nusa Damai and SMK Taman Nusa Damai, the school administration, including teachers were also taught on how to use the detectors, required to record the air quality reading every four hours.
-BERNAMA
