Three involved in Sungai Kim Kim pollution caught, one more remains at large

Two Malaysians and One Singaporean involved in polluting Sungai Kim Kim and causing environmental and health hazards for the last couple of weeks were finally charged on Sunday. It’s reported that one more Singaporean suspect is at large.

 

Singaporean Wang Jing Chao and Malaysian Yap Yoke Liang are the company’s directors of a tire-processing factory in Pasir Gudang. They, alongside lorry driver N. Maridass, were charged under Section 34B(1)(a) of the Environment Quality Act 1974 (prohibition against depositing scheduled waste), while Yap and Wang were additionally charged under Section 42 (attempt to commit punishable offence) of the same Act.

 

If sentenced, the accused could be jailed for a maximum of 5 years and pay a fine of not more than half a million Ringgit.

 

According to sources, these weren’t the only charges Wang and Yap were facing. The court has postponed another 15 charge proceedings for the duo under the same Act. Yap was also ordered to surrender his passport to the court.

 

Moreover, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Asyraf Md Kamal did not offer bail to all three suspects and submitted his objection to any bail application by the accused. He claims their offences caused serious environmental pollution and affected thousands of lives in Pasir Gudang.

 

The prosecutor added that all three suspects were caught at different locations and believed to have hidden or attempted to run away from arrests.

 

The last remaining suspect is another Singaporean man in his 30s, who is believed to be the owner of the factory. At this moment, Johor police are working with Singaporean authorities to locate the suspect. State police chief Comm Datuk Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd urge netizens to be patient while they try to bring the suspect to light.