Checks by FMT found that while the mounds of garbage at the site in Kg Kemumbung, near Sidam Kiri, here, are gone, flattened plastic waste that had been partially buried still cover the whole area.
Three men, who claimed to be caretakers of the land, prevented photos from being taken saying the land was now “being investigated by the courts” and nobody was allowed to trespass.
When asked what had happened to all the garbage that used to be on the site and if the remaining waste would be transported out soon, one of the men said: “The authorities told us to just bury this rubbish. We don’t think that it is going to do any harm as we will be cleaning up the land.
“We do not want reporters to come snooping here,” the man, claiming to be the son of the landowner, said angrily.
Checks from across the riverbank by activists in four-wheel-drive vehicles showed that the situation remained dire. The authorities had earlier warned that leaving the rubbish there would allow dangerous materials to seep into the water table below and contaminate the river.
Water authorities had warned that the potential risk of contamination was high, especially so when the river also supplied water to hundreds of padi fields.
The mighty Sungai Muda, a 203km river with a river basin covering 4,300 square km, is the primary source of water for close to three million people in Kedah and Penang.
Last week, FMT exposed a 1.2ha dumpsite next to the same river, found along the upstream section in Kampung Belida.
The two dumpsites share similar characteristics — both were former sand mining pools which have been turned into illegal dumping grounds.
A report by FMT in July last year shocked the nation when it showed an aerial view of Sungai Muda’s banks with a sea of waste stretching right to the edge of the river.
The next day, the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation (SWCorp) ordered the site to be sealed and assured that it would pursue a case against the landowner.
In response, SWCorp said the landowner was given notice to restore the land to its original state, which was categorised as agricultural. The site was reportedly used for sand mining up till 11 years ago when it was turned into a dumpsite.
A spokesman said water samples taken by the Department of Environment (DoE) showed the water to be Class II, which means it was acceptable to sensitive aquatic species, but conventional treatment was required.
The data was compiled from the upstream and downstream sections near the Sidam Kiri dumpsite between January 2018 and July 2019.
On the issue of “rubbish being buried”, a spokesman said a Form 7A, which was a notice to remedy a breach of the condition under the National Land Code, was issued by the Kuala Muda Land and Mines Office to the landowner of the site.
“As such, the landowner has complied by flattening the waste and covering it with mud or embanking (creating a bank of earth on top) in order to restore it to its original state, that is a sand mine.
“Most of the waste that has been embanked is construction waste and is covered with earth. The Department of Environment (DoE) had inspected the location and found no e-waste or toxic waste dumped there,” the spokesman told FMT.
Dump in Sungai Tukang
Meanwhile, closer to Sungai Petani town, a tiny hillock at Sungai Tukang, surrounded by housing estates, has been secretly used as a dumping ground for plastic waste.
The site is just a stone’s throw away from the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital. A member of the public, who alerted FMT, said the entire site was set ablaze last Friday, after somebody set fire to two mounds of plastic resin pellets.
Checks at the site found two vagrants sifting through the waste and there was a strong smell of burnt plastic. A laterite path to the site can easily fit a one-tonne lorry.
Persatuan Tindakan Alam Sekitar Sungai Petani, a local environmental group, believed these dumpsites were just the tip of the iceberg and believed there were more scattered across the greater Sungai Petani area.
A spokesperson said the group hoped that the Kedah government could be more vigilant of vacant land and factories storing waste out in the open.
Kedah Local Government Committee chairman Tan Kok Yew said the authorities were aware of the illegal dumping there and had taken note of the burning on Jan 26.