Father, son acquitted of hazardous waste dumping charges

 

The Selayang Sessions Court freed two construction machine repair and sales company directors from two charges of dumping hazardous waste into Sungai Gong, Rawang.

Judge Osman Affendi Mohd Shalleh decided after finding the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against Chai Kin Sang, 65, and his son Chai Wern Teik, 34, at the end of the prosecution’s case.

In his judgement, Osman Affendi said there was no testimony showing that the accused had disposed of or dumped hazardous materials into the stream that flowed into Sungai Gong.

“Therefore, the court acquits and frees both accused without calling for their defence,” he said.

Deputy public prosecutor Khairunnisak Hassni led the prosecution while both accused were represented by lawyers Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos, Sakdiyah Saleh and Thomas Chin Shiaw Wei.

On Nov 3, 2020, the father and son pleaded not guilty on both charges, and 21 prosecution witnesses gave their testimonies during the trial that began on May 25, 2021.

For the first charge, both men allegedly committed criminal mischief by dumping waste containing hazardous materials from the premises of FG Autoparts Sdn Bhd into the stream that flowed into Sungai Gong

The duo allegedly did so with the knowledge that it would affect the water supply for human consumption.

They were charged with committing the offence in Batu Arang, Rawang, between Oct 17 to 19, 2020, under Section 430 of the Penal Code.

Both the accused were also charged with the same intent of releasing hazardous waste from the same workshop into the same stream without a license at the same place and time under Section 25(1) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974.

Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) detected an abnormal odour in the raw water supply in Sungai Selangor at 12.38 am on Oct 19, 2020, causing the temporary shutdown of the Rantau Panjang water treatment plant as the odour rate was at 3 TON.

Reports stated that the shutdown of the four water treatment plants resulted in an unscheduled water supply disruption affecting 1,196,457 accounts in 1,292 areas in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling, Klang, Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor, Gombak and Kuala Langat.

- Bernama