Malaysia: Singapore’s help sought to find Sungai Kim Kim pollution suspect

remar nordin The Star 25 Mar 19;

JOHOR BARU: Johor police are working with their Singaporean counterparts to track down a man in his 30s in connection with the Sungai Kim Kim chemical waste pollution case.

The man is believed to be the owner of a used tyre-processing company allegedly involved in the pollution incident in Pasir Gudang.

State police chief Comm Datuk Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd said the man was on the wanted list and police were waiting for the Singa­porean autho­rities to arrest him.

He added that seven out of the 11 people detained in relation to the Sungai Kim Kim toxic waste dumping had been released on police bail after investigations revealed that they did not have any relation to the case.

However, three others were charged in court yesterday under Section 34B(1)(A) of the Environ­ment Quality Act 1974.

Comm Mohd Khalil also called on the public, especially netizens, to be patient as the police were trying their best to bring those involved to justice.

“The most important thing is we have managed to apprehend the three main suspects in this case,” he said at a press conference at the state police headquarters here yesterday.

“This shows there has been a development in the case and we hope that the people will give us room to conduct our investigation.

“The police cannot just arrest a person without proper conduct, investigation and evidence,” he said in response to accusations by some people that the police did not do their job properly.

“Many netizens claimed that the police were just putting on a show regarding the case.

“We work conscientiously and do the best we can.

“We do not simply arrest anyone, we only do it based on facts, and when we make the arrests, we also make sure that our case is air-tight, only then will we charge them in court.

“So, I urge netizens not to hurt the feelings of my officers and personnel, who have been working hard to rectify the situation for the well-being of the people of Johor,” he said.

A total of 5,848 children and adults have been treated at clinics and hospitals since March 8 due to the toxic waste pollution at Sungai Kim Kim.


Trio charged with polluting river
mohd farhaan shah The Star 25 Mar 19;

JOHOR BARU: Two directors and a lorry driver of a used tyre-processing company were charged in the Sessions Court here over the chemical dumping incident at Sungai Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang.

The three accused are Singa­porean Wang Jin Chao, 34, and Malaysians Yap Yoke Liang, 36, and lorry driver N. Maridass, 35.

According to the charge sheet, Maridass is accused of illegally disposing of chemicals into Sungai Kim Kim on March 7, while Wang and Yap are accused of conspiring with him.

All three were charged under Section 34B(1)(a) of the Environment Quality Act 1974.

Yap and Wang were also charged under Section 42 of the same Act.

If convicted, they can be jailed up to five years and fined a maximum of RM500,000.

The three men pleaded not guilty when the charges were read before judge Jailani Rahman who then imposed a bail of RM100,000 on Maridass and RM250,000 on Yap in one surety each.

Yap was also ordered to hand over his passport while Wang was not offered bail as he is a foreigner.

The two Malaysians did not post bail.

Meanwhile, in the same court, the company, together with Yap, Wang and another director, who has yet to be arrested, were slapped with a total of 60 charges.

They were accused by the De­­partm­ent of Environment (DoE) of committing 15 offences.

However, Jailani postponed the case to 10am today due to a technical issue arising from the details in the DoE charge sheet, despite the prosecution wanting the case to proceed.

“I can wait until 6pm, 7pm or even 10pm, but I pity my court interpreters who have to wait here,” he said, reprimanding the DoE for the technical glitch in the charge sheet.

Jailani then postponed the case while Yap and Wang were sent to the Ulu Choh remand centre.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Moha­mad Asyraf Md Kamal and Farra Nor Azura Jumuddin prosecuted while lawyer G. Subramaniam Nair represented Yap and Wang.

Maridass was represented by S. Rathakrishna.


Singaporean among three charged over Sungai Kim Kim pollution
venesa devi The Star 24 Mar 19;

JOHOR BARU: Two directors and a lorry driver of a used tyre-processing company were charged in the Sessions Court here with being involved in the chemical dumping into Sungai Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang.

The three accused are Singaporean Wang Jin Chao, 34, and Malaysians Yap Yoke Liang, 36, and lorry driver N. Maridass, 35.

According to the charge sheet, Maridass was accused of illegally disposing of chemicals into Sungai Kim Kim on March 7. Wang and Yap are accused of conspiring with Maridass.

All three were charged under Section 34B(1)(a) of the Environment Quality Act 1974 while Yap and Wang were also charged under Section 42 of the same Act.

All pleaded not guilty when the charges were read before judge Hakim Jailani Rahman here on Sunday (March 24).

It is learnt that they will face more charges following the incident at Sungai Kim Kim, which affected thousands of lives.

Pasir Gudang chemical spill: Singaporean among three charged over pollution of river
Straits Times 24 Mar 19;

JOHOR BARU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Two directors and a lorry driver of a used tyre-processing company were charged in the Sessions Court here with being involved in the chemical dumping into Sungai Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang.

The three accused are Singaporean Wang Jin Chao, 34, and Malaysians Yap Yoke Liang, 36, and N. Maridass, 35.

According to the charge sheet, lorry driver Maridass, was accused of illegally disposing of chemicals into Sungai Kim Kim on March 7.

Wang and Yap are accused of conspiring with him.

All three were charged under a section of the Environment Quality Act 1974 while Wang and Yap were also charged another section of the same Act.

The trio pleaded not guilty when the charges were read before Judge Hakim Jailani Rahman in Johor Baru on Sunday (March 24). Johor government offices including the court are open on Sunday.

It was learnt that they will face more charges following the incident at Sungai Kim Kim, which affected thousands of lives.

Meanwhile, Johor police chief Datuk Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd was quoted on Sunday as saying police are hunting for another Singaporean suspect in his 30s to assist its probe into the incident. Datuk Mohd Khalil said state police would be working with their Singapore counterparts to track down the man, New Straits Times (NST) newspaper quoted him as saying.

The missing suspect, a businessman, was believed to be one of the owners of a factory which was involved in dumping toxic waste into the river, he said.

“We are tracking down the man and will be conducting further investigation in this case. We understand that three men, including a Singaporean, were charged in court today," he told a news conference on Sunday, as quoted by NST.

The Malaysian federal government and Johor state officials scrambled for some two weeks to clear chemicals from the river, which discharges into the Strait of Johor just north of Pulau Ubin.

Malaysian authorities said last Sunday that the clean-up of the 1.5km polluted stretch of the river was complete, with 1,250 tonnes of soil, water and sludge removed.

The government shut 111 schools in the Pasir Gudang area to prevent more students from falling sick and becoming hospitalised after inhaling fumes from the chemicals. Many residents who live around the river also fled at the height of concerns over toxic gases wafting into their homes.

Malaysian authorities and the media also highlighted other cases of suspected chemical dumping in several other Johor rivers.

Singapore authorities closely monitored the chemical spill and issued regular press releases to inform the public that the Republic has not been affected by the incident.

"Singapore’s air and water quality, as well as our water supply, continue to remain unaffected" by the incident, said a joint statement last Friday from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore, the National Environment Agency, PUB – Singapore’s National Water Agency, and the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

The agencies said they will not issue any further daily updates unless there are major developments.

The PUB said last Sunday that it has been closely monitoring water quality along the Johor River and Singapore waterways and reservoirs.

“PUB assesses that the incident has no impact on our water supply, as the chemical spill location is outside of the Johor River catchment area, where part of our water supply comes from. The water quality of our inland waterways and reservoirs in north and north-eastern Singapore is also unaffected,” the statement said.