Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said the two semi-permanent structures were illegally built on government land and were operating without a licence.

He said the integrated operation against encroachment on government land was conducted by the Gombak District and Land Office, Selayang Municipal Council, Environment Department and police under Section 425 of the National Land Code 1965.

“We have identified eight premises operating without licence in the vicinity of the river. Today, we demolished two and the rest will be torn down within three weeks.

“Based on our records, these workshops were among the culprits in the incidents of pollution in Sungai Gong and Sungai Sembah last September,” he told reporters at the Selayang Municipal Council today.

Amirudin said similar operations would be conducted in other parts of Selangor, with the initial focus being on premises operating illegally on government land.

Asked on the action to be taken against the workshop operators, Amirudin said this would depend on whether investigations by the Environment Department showed that water samples taken from the river contained scheduled waste.

Since early this year, Klang Valley residents have been hit by unscheduled water cuts almost every month, with pollution of rivers and raw water sources being the most frequent causes of the disruptions.

On Sept 8, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah decreed that stronger enforcement action be taken to demolish illegal houses and factories near river banks to prevent incidents of pollution in Selangor’s waterways.