KUALA LUMPUR: Items and e-waste seized in the recent Op Hazard operations will be used as evidence in legal proceedings, says the Department of Environment (DOE).
Director-General Datuk Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar said samples of the seized items have been kept as evidence.
“We will produce an affidavit in court for the forfeiture of assets and later auction them off,” he said at a joint press conference with the police.
He explained that the auction would only be for premises licensed by the department and legitimately carrying out recycling work.
“We are currently managing and monitoring this,” he said.
According to Wan Abdul Latiff, there are currently 156 licensed e-waste processing plants in Malaysia.
When asked about the locations of premises raided in Op Hazard, he said some were in industrial areas, remote areas, inside palm oil plantations, and on the outskirts of forests.
Some were also found on government reserve lands.
“They are unlicensed and often fail to adhere to land regulations,” he said.
Among the 47 premises raided in Op Hazard, it was revealed that six had valid licences from the DOE.
“Our operations focused on these premises for possibly flouting licensing regulations.
We will investigate the severity of the offences, and if proven, we can forfeit their licences, especially if they collected e-waste illegally,” he said.
Wan Abdul Latiff added that the department has applied for an additional 3,000 personnel to enhance the DOE’s enforcement efforts.
“The application has been submitted to the Public Service Department,” he said.
