Wangsa Maju MP Tan Yee Kew and 809 consumers have hauled the PKR-led Selangor government and several others to court over last year’s water disruption in the Klang Valley.
On behalf of the PKR lawmaker and residents, law firm Messrs Calvin Khoo filed the writ of summons at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on April 20 this year.
Besides the Selangor state government, the other 17 defendants targeted by the lawsuit are the menteri besar; the state’s Drainage and Irrigation Department and its director; the Selayang Municipal Council; Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd; Authoriti Pengurusan Air Selangor; companies Yip Chee Seng & Sons Sdn Bhd and Pakar Scieno TW Sdn Bhd; the National Water Services Commission (Span); the Environmental Quality Council and its director-general; the federal government’s Department of Environment and its director-general; the federal government’s Drainage and Irrigation Department and its director-general; the environment and water minister; and the federal government.
Back in Oct last year, Tan (above) said that she decided to initiate a class-action lawsuit over the impact of water disruption on her constituents.
On Jan 4 this year, the lawmaker said she and hundreds of other consumers would be filing the suit against the state government, the federal government and several others, over the constant water disruption due to pollution in major rivers in the Klang Valley.
According to a copy of the writ, Tan and the consumers are seeking a declaration that company Yip Chee Seng & Sons was responsible for the water supply disruption on Sept 3 last year.
Back on Sept 15 last year, four brothers who are board members of the company, as well as a workshop manager, were charged in the Selayang Sessions Court in connection with the pollution in Sungai Gong, which resulted in water supply disruption to more than 1.2 million people. They were alleged to have committed the offence earlier that month, between Sept 2 and 3.
Through the present civil action, Tan and the other consumers are seeking a court declaration that the public bodies (who are defendants in the suit) are responsible for the water disruption due to negligence, violation of their statutory duty or due to contravention of the plaintiffs’ right to life and personal liberty.
Tan and the residents also seek general, exemplary and aggravated damages from the defendants, among other reliefs.
Last year, Tan told Malaysiakini that she has decided to sue a private company, Pakar Scieno TW, for allegedly failing to alert the relevant authorities on the river pollution in Selangor, which led to the water disruption.
In 2017, the government awarded the Environmental Quality Monitoring Programme (EQMP) contract for Pakar Scieno to provide a real-time data collection for air, river and marine quality levels as well as a command centre for analysis. The company was to operate the programme between July 2017 and January 2032 at the cost of RM846 million.
When contacted by Malaysiakini today, a representative from Messrs Calvin Khoo confirmed that the firm filed the suit on behalf of Tan and the other 809 plaintiffs.
The law firm representative also confirmed that following online case management of the suit before the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today, the matter has been fixed for further case management on Sept 17.
The court set the new online case management date to give time to 16 of the defendants to file their statements of defence against the suit.
Checks on the judiciary’s online e-filing showed that the two defendants that have filed their statements of defence are the Selayang Municipal Council and Pengurusan Air Selangor.
In October 2020, areas in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur experienced unscheduled water cuts four times within the span of a month. Before that, there were 18 instances of water disruption between March and August 2020. - Mkini
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