Consumers’ Association of Penang president Mohideen Abdul Kader said before a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) was appointed, the government should not resort to knee-jerk measures in attempts to resolve the issue of river pollution, as these have proven to have not worked before.

“A holistic solution is needed because whenever a crisis occurs, all sorts of promises are made to deal with the problem but nothing substantial or effective happens.

“The government must revamp the entire system to eliminate any legal loopholes,” he said in a statement today.

He said besides laws, the inquiry must also look at enforcement issues, corrupt practices which led to the dumping of waste into rivers, and whether a single agency ought to look into managing rivers nationwide, among others.

Mohideen said the lack of oversight on rivers was serious. He referred to a 2017 report which showed that only 46% of 477 supervised rivers were considered clean, while another 43% were slightly polluted and 11% polluted.

He said last year, 25 rivers were reported to be dead – 16 in Johor, five in Selangor, three in Penang and one in Melaka.

The main culprit of river filth, he said, remained waste from factories, workshops as well as animal and agricultural farms.

Separately, Mohideen called on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to find out if there were any elements of graft in Selangor for allowing 2,978 illegal factories to carry on operating since 2016.

He asked why the chief culprit of the water cuts in the Klang Valley – a machinery workshop on the bank of Sungai Gong – was allowed to operate despite being fined RM60,000 earlier this year for releasing solvents into the river.

“We are puzzled how the factory has been operating since 2014 without a licence and yet the authorities took no action to close it down. “