JOHOR BAHRU (Sept 21): The amendments to the Water Services Industry Act 2006 (Act 655) which has been approved by the Cabinet is expected to be tabled in Parliament this November.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said the amendments included heavier punishment with higher fines and longer imprisonment for offences involving river pollution.

"We are looking from a legal point of view that the amendments to the law that have been approved (Cabinet), God willing, will be brought to Parliament at the end of the session in November.

"We will study it so that there is clarity and from there we will close the loopholes in terms of legislation so that it will be clearer to take action later on those found guilty of causing the pollution.

"...the punishment is also increased from maybe RM1 million to a maximum of RM10 million or even imprisonment, that's the amendment we will make," he said.

Fadillah, who is also the minister of energy transition and water transformation, told reporters after officiating the National Level World River Day Celebration at Sungai Tebrau, Kampung Bakar Batu here on Saturday.

In the meantime, Fadillah said apart from the aspect of amending the Act, the main thing is to prioritise river care with prevention to avoid river pollution in this country.

"First I see prevention is more important. Bringing awareness about the importance of rivers involves non-governmental organisations (NGOs), local communities to preserve our rivers.

"The federation and the state must both take action, including against riverside factories. If it can be moved, if it cannot be moved, we have to ensure technology so that scheduled wastes are disposed of in the right place and to prevent them from being released directly into the river," he said.

At the beginning of this month, a series of odour pollution believed to be caused by chemical waste dumped into the river occurred in Johor Bahru involving several areas.

Johor Health and Environment Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said the clean up of the scheduled waste will be done at two locations of pollution, namely the Tiong Nam Industrial Park and the Tropika Industrial Park.

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