KUALA LUMPUR: Four brothers, directors of a company said to be responsible for the river pollution that led to a water supply disruption affecting over a million people, have pled not guilty to the charge at the Sessions Court here.
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The four brothers and a workshop manager, were charged at the Sessions Court Tuesday (Sept 15) with polluting Sungai Gong in Rawang, causing the disruption of water supply to 1.2 million people earlier this month.
The four accused, Yip Kok Wai, 52; Yip Kok Mun, 58; Yip Kok Kuin, 50; Yip Kok Weng, 60 and manager Ho Voon Leong, 59, pleaded not guilty to charges under Section 430 of the Penal Code and Section 25 of the Environmental Quality Act.
The five were jointly charged with mischief by injury to works of irrigation near the Yip Chee Seng & Sons Sdn Bhd workshop that led to water pollution in Sungai Gong.
They were also charged with discharging scheduled waste without a licence, into the environment leading to pollution.
The offences were allegedly committed at the premises of Yip Chee Seng & Sons Sdn Bhd, at Lot 4219, Jalan Batu Arang, Kg Sungai Dua, Rawang, in Gombak, Selangor between Sept 2 and 3.
If convicted under Section 430, the men could face a jail sentence of not less than five years and not more than 30 years, or a fine, or both.
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If convicted under Section 25 of the Environmental Quality Act, they face a fine not exceeding RM100,000, or a jail sentence not exceeding five years, or both.
Sessions Court judge Syafeera Said refused to grant bail to the accused and fixed Oct 27 for mention.
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Iskandar Ahmad asked the court not to exercise its discretion to grant bail to the accused as they are charged with a non-bailable offence.
He added that the incident had caused hardship to many in Klang Valley due to five days of water cuts.
Mohamad Iskandar also noted that the company owned by the brothers had been compounded in March this year.
Defence counsels Datuk M Reza Hassan and Abdul Rashid Ismail represented the accused. -The Star