Couple charged with oil spill that affected more than 1 million in Klang Valley

This workshop was identified as the cause of the oil spill resulting in the water shortage in the Klang Valley. - September 17, 2013.A couple was charged by the Shah Alam Sessions Court today with causing the oil spill in Sungai Selangor three weeks ago which resulted in a major water disruption in the Klang Valley.

Ng Kim Bok, 55, was charged with 30 counts under the Environment Quality Act 1974 and the Selangor Waters Management Authority Enactment 1999, while his wife, H'ng Soo Chiew, 56, was jointly charged with 20 counts.

Both claimed trial to the charges.

Ng was charged in his capacity as the owner of Muhibbah Mok Workshop, Muhibbah Mok Sdn Bhd and Ng Kim Bok Realty Sdn Bhd. Both he and his wife are directors  of the three companies.

Muhibbah Mok Workshop is located at the spot where the spillage occurred and sits on land owned by Ng Kim Bok Realty. The workshop's parent company is Muhibbah Mok Sdn Bhd.

They allegedly committed the offences in Sungai Bakau and Sungai Gong in Gombak, which lead to the pollution of Sungai Selangor, between 9.50am and 11.40am on August 30, 2013.

Ng and Hg were charged with releasing scheduled waste (oil) into the soil and inland waters without licence.

Judge Mohamed Mokhzani Mokhtar granted Ng bail of RM150,000 in one surety and H'ng RM100,000 in one surety, for all the charges. He fixed October 10, 2013 for mention.

Deputy public prosecutors Mohd Ashrof Adrin and Dinesh Raja Dorai Raja prosecuted, while Ng and H'ng were not represented.

On August 30, more than a million Klang Valley consumers were left without water for several days after Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) activated its emergency response plan to "Code Red", following the closure of four water treatment plants caused by the diesel spillage.

Code Red is activated when a situation is most severe and affects more than a million consumers.

The water disruption spanned seven districts due to the closure of the Sungai Selangor Phase 1, 2 and 3 and Rantau Panjang treatment plants, to facilitate clean-up works.

The four plants produce 2.67 billion litres of water daily, catering to 57% of water demand in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

The incident also caused a spat between Putrajaya and the Selangor government.

State executive councillor Elizabeth Wong was reported as saying that the water concessionaire should not have created such a "panic" among affected consumers when it sounded warning bells over a possible prolonged shortage.

Selangor maintained that Klang Valley would not experience a water crisis despite the Code Red classification by Syabas.