Singaporean among three charged over Sungai Kim Kim pollution

JOHOR BARU: Two directors and a lorry driver of a used tyre-processing company were charged in the Sessions Court here with being involved in the chemical dumping into Sungai Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang.  

The three accused are Singaporean Wang Jin Chao, 34, and Malaysians Yap Yoke Liang, 36, and lorry driver N. Maridass, 35.  

According to the charge sheet, Maridass was accused of illegally disposing of chemicals into Sungai Kim Kim on March 7. Wang and Yap are accused of conspiring with Maridass.  

All three were charged under Section 34B(1)(a) of the Environment Quality Act 1974 while Yap and Wang were also charged under Section 42 of the same Act.  

They faced sentencing under Section 34B(4) of the Act.  

All pleaded not guilty when the charges were read before judge Hakim Jailani Rahman here on Sunday (March 24).  

It is learnt that they will face more charges following the incident at Sungai Kim Kim, which affected thousands of lives.