ISKANDAR PUTERI (Johor) — Imagery from a satellite and drones has helped Malaysian authorities identify 46 areas which could potentially be toxic chemical pollution sites in the Pasir Gudang industrial zone.

Energy, science, technology, environment and climate change minister Yeo Bee Yin said the discoveries were made when the authorities used satellite imagery to monitor chemical pollution in Sungai Kim Kim.

“The Department of Environment (DoE) will investigate these sites as we are so far only basing this new information on data received from the satellite and drones. We will send DoE officers personnel there as there are no concrete statistics right now.

“We don’t know if the pollution we observed there is from domestic or scheduled waste,” she told reporters after tabling the full report of the Sungai Kim Kim pollution at the Datuk Jaafar Muhammad building.

Present was state Health, Environment and Agriculture Committee chairman Dr Sahruddin Jamal.

Nearly 6,000 people were treated for various illnesses following due to toxic chemical waste being dumped into Sungai Kim Kim. The incident saw the closure of 111 schools in Pasir Gudang.

Asked if the 46 new locations would also have to be cleaned up, Ms Yeo said she could not provide a definite answer as that was under the purview of the state government and the local council.

“I will submit the list of the 46 locations to the state government for further action,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ms Yeo said her ministry would set up a committee to assess the Pasir Gudang industrial zone and rivers which have been polluted in the area.

“This is to spare the residents from being affected any further by the Sungai Kim Kim incident. We will also propose that such committees be set up in other industrial zones in the country,” she said. NEW STRAITS TIMES