JOHOR BAHRU (April 5): The Johor State Government is looking to enhance periodic checks on all palm oil mills operating along the rivers in the State to ensure that the waste disposal methods of these mills meet the set standards.

Johor Health, Environment and Agriculture Committee chairman Dr Sahruddin Jamal said the directive was given following the ammonia contamination in Sungai Sayong on Wednesday which resulted in several Water Treatment Plants (LRAs) to be closed.

"This case happened because there was a leak, but as a consequence, many people were deprived of water supply.

"Therefore, to ensure that incidents like this do recur, I have instructed the local authorities, Department of Environment (DOE) and the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) to conduct periodic checks more often," he told reporters after opening the Sungai Chat Upstream Research Expedition here, today.

He said based on records, there were more than 60 oil palm factories operating by the river throughout Johor.

On Wednesday, about 17,000 account holders under the Ranhill SAJ water company in Kulai faced water supply disruption due to ammonia contamination at Sungai Sayong.

Johor International Trade, Investment and Utility Committee chairman Jimmy Puah Wee Tse said the pollution occurred as a reservoir at a bio-composite centre next to an oil palm mill in Sedenak had burst, causing water containing ammonia to flow into Sungai Sayong.