Arena Larkin Aquatic Centre to be closed for five months following E.coli contamination

JOHOR BARU: The Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) Aquatic Centre Larkin Arena is closed for the next five months due to E.coli bacteria contamination of two pools.

Johor Youth, Sports, Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Committee Chairman Mohd Hairi Mad Shah said the closure is for cleaning and upgrading work at the centre.

He said that while the Health Ministry closure notice stated that the centre is supposed to be open from Aug 6, he had asked for approval from Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi to extend the closure until early January 2025.

The Larkin assemblyman said this when met after visiting the MBJB Aquatic Centre Larkin Arena here on Thursday (August 1).

He added that the extended closure would allow cleaning and upgrading work to be carried out, including installing an anti rust system and changing the tiles in the pools.

Mohd Hairi said the cleaning and upgrading work would be done by the centre’s management, Johor Corporation (JCorp) arm Damansara Assets.

“Once the work is complete, the centre will be handed over to MBJB prior to its reopening by January 2025,” he said, adding that the estimated cost of RM1.3mil would be covered by JCorp.

On Tuesday (July 30), Mohd Hairi confirmed that the water in the swimming and diving pools at the centre contain E. coli bacteria.

Prior to this on Thursday (June 27), 19 out of the 900 students participating in a tournament were rushed to the hospital after experiencing symptoms such as vomiting, fever and itchy skin.

This is believed to have been caused by the water in the swimming pool and diving pool at the aquatic centre.