JOHOR BARU: A green lung near Johor Baru, with a lake in the centre, has now become a major dumping ground not just for construction materials but also hazardous waste.
The fumes from the burning chemicals at a nearby illegal dumpsite – which ignite and start smouldering and emitting a pungent smell, especially at night – has been a problem for more than six years for about 5,000 residents living in Taman Bukit Kempas.
The local residents blame several recycling companies that have set up base illegally on agriculture land, with the culprits dumping the waste and toxic materials directly into the lake, which then flows into Sg Skudai several kilometres away.
The locals also fear that the toxic fumes or waste water from the lake will contaminate farms which produce and supply vegetables to nearby markets.
Kempas environment action committee chairman Mokhtar Mohamed Barkat Ali said that the situation has worsened despite the residents lodging numerous complaints with various agencies.
“The last meeting we had (in October) was with representatives from at least 13 agencies, including the district officer, and we were informed that the Department of Environment had even found traces of heavy metals in samples they had analysed.
“In 2019, there was a huge toxic fire at the illegal dumpsite which took a long time for the Fire and Rescue Department and local council to put out.
“Nowadays, due to chemical reaction, the dumpsite reignites and there are still fumes being emitted in the area until today,” he said, adding that police reports have been lodged but no action has been taken.
Mokhtar, 67, who has been living in the area for 20 years, said that the residents have done their best to get the attention of all the agencies but nothing has happened to clamp down on this clandestine activity.
“Are they hoping for people to seriously fall ill before they act? These fires have happened at least 10 times since 2015.
“Each time it takes from several days to 14 days to put out,” he said, adding that in 2019, many school children fell ill after inhaling the toxic fumes.
He added that there are a few primary and secondary schools in the area as well as kindergartens.
Mokhtar said that the state government needs to come down hard on the more than a dozen recycling factories operating in the area and move them to a proper and centralised area instead of allowing them to operate haphazardly.
“A multiagency task force needs to be set up to tackle this issue and save this beautiful natural lake and green lung in this area,” he said, adding that the residents have to date written dozens of letters to the authorities hoping for a resolution.
Another local resident, N. Thiagaraja, 73, who has been living in the area for 22 years, said that he had moved to Bukit Kempas hoping to spend his retirement years there with his wife.
“Those days the environment was very nice and cool. These days we are forced to endure a pungent odour which is very unpleasant.
“It’s very suffocating, especially for senior citizens like us,” he said, adding that he hoped the authorities would come down hard on the culprits.
Another local resident, Ibrahim Abdul Kadir, 58, who has been living here for 32 years, said that there are many types of fish in the lake.
“There is also a natural spring which flows into this natural lake. Those days the water used to be clear and people could swim in it.
“However, in the 1990s the illegal dumping of garbage started and the water has since turned brown and murky.
“Now with the dumping of other kinds of heavy metals it’s just a disaster waiting to happen,” he said, hoping that something could be done as soon as possible to mitigate the problem.
Meanwhile, a check by The Star on the illegal dumpsite on Jalan Banjaran (next to the SAJ water supply company’s tank) here showed the road leading to the site had been barricaded with a metal gate at the main road. Several vegetable farms are located next to the “yard”, which has been sealed off with metal hoardings.
There was also an empty workers’ cabin at the site with several empty oil drums and two garbage bins. Besides household garbage, there were a lot of electronic items dumped in the area with some parts still smouldering.