Fishermen cry foul over ‘black’ river
Manure from nearby pig farms pointed to as source of pollution
BUTTERWORTH: Fishermen living along Sungai Kereh in Tasek Gelugor near here are crying foul over water pollution which has affected their daily income.
The fishermen claimed that the pollution was caused by rampant release of manure into the river from pig farms in nearby Kampung Selamat.
This has also affected the water in the main river of Sungai Prai, they said.
Fisherman Mat Saad Ahmad, 75, said the river had been polluted since the 1960s and it had badly affected the livelihood of about 300 fishermen.
“The waste from the pig farms in Kampung Selamat flows into Sungai Kereh, resulting in the river water turning blackish and emitting a foul smell,” he said when met at Kampung Sungai Korok.
Another fisherman Sabri Sudin, 65, said the river used to be the main source of water before the 1960s for many villagers in the area.
“The mushrooming of pig farms since 2000 has caused the river to be polluted.
“Because of this, there are no longer any fish in the river,” he claimed, adding that among the freshwater fish they used to catch were chitala, hemibagrus and ikan moyong.
Other rivers also believed to have been affected by the pollution are Sungai Korok, Sungai Jarak and Sungai Kulim.
State health, agriculture and agro-based industry, and rural development committee chairman Dr Norlela Ariffin said the state Veterinary Services Department would install water filters in the river in Kampung Selamat to tap the black sludge.
She said the state Drainage and Irrigation Department estimated that it would cost about RM13mil to build a waste pool at the pig farms in Kampung Selamat.
“I will ask mayor Datuk Rozali Mohamud to act against pig farmers that discharged the pig waste into the river,” she said.
It is learnt that the state government had passed Pig Farming Enactment 2016 requiring all pig farmers to practise the closed farming method.
However, the law which should have been implemented in January this year, was put on hold and a moratorium of two years was allowed for them to convert their farms into the new system.
Under the Penang Pig Farming Enactment 2016, farmers who flout the strict guidelines face a maximum of three years’ jail or a RM30,000 fine or both, upon conviction.
When contacted, State environment committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said he would instruct the state environmental officers to check the biological oxygen demand and the chemical oxygen demand at the affected rivers.