New Post has been published on The Rakyat Post
New Post has been published on http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2014/06/22/concern-water-quality-seeking-cheap-publicity/
'My only concern is water quality, not seeking cheap publicity'
Whatever action that is taken, the drinking water for the people of Selangor must be 100% drinkable.
This a question of public health, said Klang Member of Parliament Charles Santiago, in reiterating his call for clean water for the state of Selangor.
“It is important for people to realise that heavy metals dilute differently during the wet and dry season.
“During the wet season, heavy metals dilute faster. Now, we are facing a dry season and heavy metals tend to dilute slowly because of their high concentration,” he told The Rakyat Post today.
Santiago said all the tests done on behalf of the Selangor government were done in May during the rainy season and this did not reflect the true contents of heavy metals in ponds being used to supply water to Sungai Selangor.
He added that for any test on water to reflect its true nature, it must be done over a period of time, at the very least within a six- to eight-month period.
Meanwhile, Santiago welcomed the announcement by Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim that experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Singapore will be roped in to study the contents of water, including that from former mining ponds and rivers.
However, Santiago denied Abdul Khalid’s statement that he (Santiago) was merely seeking cheap publicity.
Abdul Khalid, in a news report by Bernama earlier, had rapped Santiago’s statement that contents of water obtained from former mining ponds might not be safe for use during the dry season.
To that, Santiago said he merely wanted to protect the health of the people.
He said if Abdul Khalid could not accept the fact that the health of the people must come first, then he should step down as Menteri Besar.
“If the state really wants to use pond water as drinking water, then at the very start an Environmental Impact Assessment on the quality of water should have been done.
“Countries like Canada use pond water for drinking water, but the difference is that the pond is rehabilitated and treated before hand to ensure the water is safe.
“It is then treated again to become drinking water.”
Santiago told The Rakyat Post that if he had not pushed Abdul Khalid on the matter then today’s announcement on foreign experts studying the quality of water may not have been made.