Many students affected by toxic fumes still not at school
JOHOR BARU: Many students affected by the toxic fumes from Sungai Kim Kim have not turned up for school since it reopened on Sunday.
All the 25 schools located near the river recorded 95% attendance.
“We believe the 5% did not turn up because they are still traumatised by the incident,” said Johor Islamic Affairs and Education Committee chairman Aminolhuda Hassan.
“They are those who received treatment at the Intensive Care Unit during the incident.
“They are still traumatised by it and the Education Ministry has ordered the schools to give them counselling. We hope it can help them recover,” he said after the Sungai Kim Kim Parents-Teachers briefing here yesterday.
The briefing was organised to inform parents on the steps taken by the authorities to contain the incident.
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Science Faculty dean Prof Abdull Rahim Mohd Yusoff, who shared his experience in handling the incident, suggested that air quality monitoring machines be placed at all Pasir Gudang industrial areas.
He said a baseline indicator could help differentiate the type of gas and chemical in the air.
“Different areas have different air quality. The industrial area in Kulai has different air quality from Pasir Gudang because the majority of the industries in Kulai are electronic-related while Pasir Gudang is more on chemical industry,” he said.
Source : TheStar
