Four Individuals Plead Not Guilty To Charges For Dumping Biodiesel Substances In Sungai Kundang

Four directors of a palm oil processing company were charged at the Selayang Session Court today (9 November) for releasing waste from the premises into Sungai Kundang, Rawang without a licence.

The three men and a woman, Ong Seng Khek (71), Low Sze Wai (66), Siow Lee Chen (66) and Ong Chee Ming (34), each pleaded not guilty to the charges read out against them before Judge Syafeera Mohd Said.

The charge was filed in accordance with Section 25 (1) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 and is punishable under Section 25 (3) of the same Act which provides for a fine of RM100,000 or imprisonment for up to five years or both, upon conviction.

On 22 October, investigations by the Selangor Water Management Board (LUAS) found that the odour pollution was caused by biodiesel material over 10 TON which had flowed from the Kundang Jaya industrial area.

It was reported that the four individuals had joint intentions of releasing waste from Syarikat United Fineoleo Sdn Bhd located at Lot 19701, Jalan KPK 1/3, Kawasan Perindustrian Kundang, Kundang Jaya, Gombak into a drain flowing into Sungai Kundang, Rawang without a licence.

According to Bernama, Deputy public prosecutor Nurul Ain Shafie offered RM50,000 bail to each accused with additional conditions which were for them to surrender their passports to the court, report to the police station each month and for them to not come near the witnesses until the disposal of the case.

Counsel S.Y. Ong who represented the accused applied for the bail amount to be reduced to RM5,000 each on grounds that his clients had cooperated well with the authorities throughout the investigation.

Syafeera, however, set RM50,000 in one surety for each accused and imposed all the additional conditions proposed by the prosecution.

The court has since set 7 December for re-mention of the case.

Meanwhile, the four directors of the company each pleaded not guilty to the charge of  harbouring eight illegal Myanmar immigrants without valid permits before Magistrate Nur Hafizah Rajuni.

They were charged under Section 55E of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and can be punished under Section 55E (2) of the same act, which carries a fine of RM5,000 to RM30,000 or imprisonment for up to 12 months or both for each immigrant, upon conviction.

Deputy public prosecutor Khairunnisak Hassni offered RM5,000 bail to each accused. Magistrate Hafizah Rajuni then set the same amount of bail in one surety for each accused.

The court has set 7 December for re-mention of this case as well.

 

Also read: Could The Recent Water Disruptions Be Caused By The ‘Tidak Apa’ Attitude Of Malaysians?