TOXIC contamination of the polluted waters of Sungai Pengorak and Pantai Pengorak near Kuantan, Pahang, is evidenced by the high content of arsenic metalloid and heavy metals in fish samples from the Gebeng coastal area tested by this newspapers Probes Team. Only a few days earlier, however, Pahangs Public Amenities and Environment Committee had claimed that the waters were safe, notwithstanding the reddish hue caused by bauxite sediments emanating from mining activities in the area. If the committee is to be believed, then the inference is that aquatic life there had been poisoned in only a couple of days, which is just not possible. And yet, when faced with the facts \u201d that the level of arsenic found in fish caught in the water sources in the area at 101.5 mg\/kg is way above the permissible level of of 1mg\/kg \u201d the state authorities do not appear to be overly perturbed. For why else would the state government allow mining activity to go on in the face of such damning evidence?<\/p>\n