Last week, when the Parliament was still in session, I received a few calls from the residents living in Lahat, Perak ( Batu Gajah constituency). All the calls were of the same complaint. The residents could not tolerate an unbearable strong smell. They claimed that it was causing them difficulties in breathing.

The case is pending in court. This was what the officer of the Department of Environment in Ipoh (DOE) told me. There is a leakage and the DOE could not do anything unless an order is obtained from the court to either remove it from the factory or repack them.

Yesterday, when I took the residents to meet the officer at DOE in Ipoh, we were told that the order has yet to be obtained from the court to “touch” (repack) the drums. Today, I was told the Magistrate is on leave.

When I called up the DOE at Putrajaya, I was told that they are analyzing the quotation of the selected company which is going to repack / transfer the drums.

The officer of DOE in Ipoh had asked me to call up his colleague everyday to find out the status of the matter. They may be under a little pressure, after meeting with the residents yesterday. However, they are officers of DOE why are they not sensitive at all to the environmental issue. One of the DOE officer made such a remark, “gas itu tidak bahaya”. A resident replied well by saying, “kalau kita ada apa-apa awak boleh tanggung?”

All the residents wanted to know is, why the delay and when can the DOE take action to stop the leakage? They have been complaining to the authority for the past 2 months, claimed one of the residents and confirmed by the officer of DOE in Ipoh.

A lady told me that she could not sleep because the smell was too strong. She did try to cover her face with the blanket but still failed to “block” the strong smell.