Prosecution postponed in Johor chemical pollution case

The dumping of chemical waste in Sungai Kim Kim has seen hundreds hospitalised while schools in the area have been closed. (Gambar Bernama)

JOHOR BAHRU: Today’s prosecution of the owner of an illegal tyre recycling factory which allegedly dumped chemical waste in a river in Pasir Gudang, triggering a health crisis, has been postponed.

Johor Health, Environment and Agriculture Committee chairman Sahruddin Jamal said the office of the deputy public prosecutor (DPP) had asked the Department of Environment (DoE) to obtain additional information on the matter.

“The prosecution cannot be done until there is further instruction from the office of the DPP,” he said in a statement.

Energy, Science, Technology, Innovation, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin said yesterday that the investigation papers had been submitted to the DPP’s office.

The education ministry ordered the indefinite closure of all 111 schools in Pasir Gudang after hundreds of people, many of them schoolchildren, were admitted to hospital due to inhalation of toxic fumes from chemical waste dumped in Sungai Kim Kim.

In a Facebook post last night, Sahruddin had urged members of the public not to politicise the pollution issue, and to stop circulating fake news on the matter.

“Do not fish in troubled waters. Do not worsen the trying times we are facing in Pasir Gudang now,” he said. - FMT