According to The Star, a non-executive director of a used tyre processing factory was charged for abetting three other individuals to dispose scheduled waste into the Kim Kim River in Johor, which caused the crisis in Pasir Gudang in March 2019.
The director, a 50-year-old Singaporean citizen named Sim Wei Der, pleaded not guilty when the charges were formally read out to him in court. He was charged with the disposing of oil waste and sludge listed in the First Schedule of the Environmental Quality (Scheduled Waste) Regulations 2005 into the river without the Department of Environment’s approval.
Source: The Straits Times
He was charged under Section 34B (1)(a) and Section 42 of the Environmental Quality Act 1974. If he is found guilty, Sim faces up to five years in jail along with a fine of up to RM500,000.
Sim was allowed a bail of RM250,000 with two sureties and was ordered to report to the Pasir Gudang police station on the 15th of every month.
The dumping was reportedly carried out by the accused near the Kim Kim River bridge-widening project site, between 12.01am and 1am on 7th March 2019.
Source: The Straits Times
This caused a crisis in Pasir Gudang when thousands of people fell sick due to inhaling chemical fumes from the Kim Kim River. All schools in the district were ordered closed until the end of the March school holidays as most of the victims were school children.
After cleanup efforts were carried out over a period of weeks, the Kim Kim River was declared safe by Energy, Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin on 19th March.
Let’s hope that the authorities issue just punishments for those found guilty and hope that this crisis does not repeat itself!
Also read: 2 M’sians & 1 S’porean May Face 5 Years’ Jail After Being Charged for Polluting Pasir Gudang
