A notice being put up in front of SMK Pasir Putih to announce the temporary closure of the school due to toxic fumes from chemicals dumped into the nearby Sungai Kim Kim, March 7, 2019. — Bernama pic
“I have asked the District Disaster Relief Management Committee to ensure that schools near the river were temporarily closed until the situation was really safe for students and teachers to continue their learning session,” said Osman in a statement here early this morning. Following the clean-up, the two schools reopened yesterday morning after an air assessment confirmed it to be safe, but after about five hours later the hot weather triggered fumes from the residue.
Osman said the Department of Environment together with the Fire and Rescue Department are in the midst of conducting cleaning-up works to ensure the environment and air quality are safe from any form of contamination.