Malaysian minister monitors chemical odour pollution

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BERNAMA – The Malaysian Ministry of Education will continuously monitor the situation at several schools near the area affected by the chemical odour pollution incident in Johor Bahru in Malaysia.
 
Malaysian Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the ministry would also seek recommendations and advice from the Malaysian Ministry of Health and other relevant agencies on whether there is a need to close the schools to ensure the well-being of students and teachers.
 
“School administrators must comply with and follow the steps outlined in the guidelines provided by ministry, particularly when dealing with pollution issues,” she told reporters after launching the National Technical and Vocational Education and Training Day at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Perdana yesterday.
 
Last Wednesday, Johor Department of Environment (DOE) senior deputy director Mohd Rashdan Topa was reported to have said that ammonia gas with high concentration readings was detected during air quality monitoring conducted at Sungai Pandan, Kampung Melayu Pandan in Johor Bahru. 
 
However, Mohd Rashdan said that air quality readings returned to normal during monitoring carried out the following day.
 
On the death of an eight-month-old baby boy at a nursery in Alor Gajah, Melaka, Fadhlina expressed her condolences to the baby’s mother, Sabrina Hakiem Zaini, 39, who is also a teacher.
 
PHOTO: BERNAMA