SHAH ALAM, 17 SEPT: A husband and wife who were brought before the Shah Alam Sessions Court to face five charges for the oil pollution in Sungai Selangor which was committed by the accused on 30 August.
The accused, Eng Kim Bok, 55, was charged with 30 offences, while his wife, H’ng Soo Chiew, 56, was charged with 20 offences under the Environmental Quality Act 1974 and the Selangor Water Management Authority (LUAS) Enactment.
Eng is the sole owner of Ng Kim Bok Realty Sdn Bhd and is a co-director with his wife at Bengel Muhibbah Mok and Muhibbah Mok Sdn Bhd.
Benkel Muhibbah Mok is located at the place where the spill occurred while Muhibbah Mok Sdn Bhd is the parent company of the workshop, and Ng Kim Bok Realty is the company that owns the land occupied by the workshop.
Each offence was read by the Deputy Public Prosecutor, Mohd Ashrof Adrin before Judge Mohammed Mokhzani Mokhtar.
The five counts involve Section 24 of the Environmental Quality Act 1974, which is contaminating agricultural land with scheduled dumping, and Section 25(1) of the same act, which is scheduled dumping of SW311 (oil waste) without a licence in any inland waters which provides a maximum fine of RM100,000 or an imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both.
The two accused were charged under Section 32(b) of the same act for disposing waste illegally. If convicted, they could face mandatory imprisonment not exceeding 5 years in prison and a fine not exceeding RM500,000.
In addition, Kim Book and Soo Chiew were also charged under Section 79(1)(d) of the LUAS Enactment for disposing waste containing oil into a water source without a licence from the Director of LUAS. Upon conviction, they face a fine not exceeding RM100,000 and imprisonment not exceeding three years, or both.
The accused were also charged under Section 41 of the LUAS Enactment for releasing waste exceeding the limited standards set, interfering with the natural flow of water, and if convicted, face a fine not exceeding RM5,000.
The accused allegedly committed the offences between 9.50 am to 11.40 am.
The total fine is estimated to be over RM3 million.
Judge Mokhzani reset the case on 10 October and bail at RM150,000 for Kim Bok and RM100,000 for Soo Chiew.
In the incident, nearly one million water users in seven provinces of the Selangor Water Supply Company Sdn Bhd (Syabas) were affected when four plants were stopped after detecting water pollution due to diesel spill upstream Sungai Selangor around 8am on 30 August.