Kuala lumpur: The Department of Environment (DOE) conducted more than 5,000 inspections nationwide and recorded accumulated fines amounting to RM4.59 million involving environmental pollution cases during the first four months of this year.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the department stated that a total of 5,074 inspections were carried out on 4,339 premises subject to the Environmental Quality Act 1974 between January 1 and April 30, 2026. These inspections covered a range of industrial sectors, including crude palm oil mills, raw natural rubber factories, scheduled waste recovery facilities, sewage treatment plants, and other industries with potential environmental impacts.
Based on these inspections, the DOE initiated 3,149 follow-up enforcement actions against parties found to be non-compliant with the Environmental Quality Act 1974. The enforcement measures included 1,587 directive notices, 1,369 compounds, 44 equipment operation detention actions, two license suspensions, 18 prohibition orders, and 129 investigation papers prepared for prosecution.
The DOE noted that 148 offenses had completed court prosecution proceedings, resulting in convictions with accumulated fines totaling RM4,598,500, along with a one-day jail sentence. During the same period, DOE also conducted 1,906 enforcement operations on motor vehicle smoke emissions, inspecting 137,722 vehicles nationwide. Additionally, 811 inspections were carried out on projects with Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval.
Efforts to prevent the illegal entry of scheduled waste into the country included 51 inspection operations at major ports, examining 702 containers suspected of carrying scheduled waste. Of these, 427 containers were found to contain scheduled waste, including electrical and electronic waste. As a result, 73 directive notices were issued, instructing the containers to be sent out of Malaysia. To date, 53 containers have been successfully returned to their countries of origin.
DOE also intensified monitoring of open burning issues, conducting 3,237 investigations related to open burning nationwide during the period, including on 494 detected hotspots. The use of technology was enhanced with 409 drone flights for monitoring and surveillance of environmental pollution, aiding in investigations and enforcement.
Throughout the first four months of 2026, the DOE received a total of 6,252 environmental pollution complaints, each of which was investigated in accordance with the stipulated customer charter period.