Father, son acquitted of hazardous waste dumping charges
22 May 2023 05:06pm
picture for illustrative purposes - FILEPIC
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Judge Osman Affendi Mohd Shalleh made his decision after finding that the prosecution 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 both the accused had disposed of or dumped any 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 of the accused were represented by lawyers Datuk Seri Dr Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos, Sakdiyah Saleh and Thomas Chin Shiaw Wei.
On Nov 3, 2020, the father and son plead 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 with the knowledge that it would affect the water supply for human consumption.
They were charged with committing the offence in Batu Arang, Rawang near here 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, which caused the temporary shutdown of the Rantau Panjang water treatment plant as the odour rate was at 3 TON.
Media outlets had reported on the shutdown of the four water treatment plants that 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
