Johor Baru: On March 27, the Singaporean who was charged in connection with the illegal chemical dumping at Sungai Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang was granted bail. This occurred after a decision from the Sessions Court was overturned by the High Court.
According to Johor Bahru High Court judge Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid, “The Sungai Kim Kim incident has been receiving attention not only in Johor but also throughout Malaysia as it has been intensively reported by the media.
The High Court has the right to review the decision, and I found that the learned (Sessions Court) judge has made a mistake.”
It was reported earlier that a decision from Sessions Court on Sunday, March 24, stated that since he was a foreigner, Mr Wang could not be granted bail.
According to a report from the Star, 34-year-old Wang Jing Chao, a Singaporean national, was offered bail of RM 250,000 (S$ 83,000) with two Malaysian sureties. Mr Wang is required to report to the police station at Pasir Gudang on the 15th day of every month until the case ends.
Three people in all have been charged over the illegal dumping of noxious chemicals into Sungai Kim Kim on March 7. Mr Wang and two other Malaysians, Yap Yoke Liang, age 36, and N Maridass, 35.
Messrs Wang and Yap are the directors of a company that processes used tires, P Tech Resources Sdn Bhd, and N. Maridass is a truck driver with the firm.
The toxic fumes from the chemical dumping affected almost 6,000 children and adults and also caused the closure of all 111 schools in the area, which will not be opening again until after March 31.
Messrs Yap and Wang are facing a total of 32 charges between them. Mr Maridass faces only one charge for the unlawful dumping of the chemicals in Sungai Kim Kim.
Mr Yap was originally granted bail by the Sessions Court amounting to RM250,000 (S$ 83,000), with one surety. The amount was lowered by the High Court to RM150,000 (S$ 50,000).
Mr Maridass was originally granted bail by the Sessions Court amounting to RM100,000 (S$ 33,000), with one surety. The amount was lowered by the High Court to RM30,000 (S$ 10,000).
According to Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd, the chief of police in Johor, there is another Singaporean whom the police are looking for in connection to the illegal dumping. “We are tracking down the man and will be conducting further investigations in this case.”
The other Singaporean national the police are looking for is Sim Wei Dee, age 49, who is also a director of the company that processes used tires.
Bernama reports that according to the Johor police chief, they are “awaiting assistance from our counterparts in Singapore to arrest him.”
For its part, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said on March 24, Sunday, that they are in communication with the Royal Malaysia Police and that they are waiting for them to issue an official request for help.
The SPF said, “The Singapore Police Force is in touch with the Royal Malaysia Police, and are awaiting the latter’s official request for assistance. We are unable to comment further as investigations by the Malaysian authorities are ongoing.”
Messrs Wang and Yap will appear before a judge again on April 30.
The prosecutor in the case is Deputy Public Prosecutor Roslan Md Nor. Mr Maridass was represented by his attorney, S Rathakrishna, and Messrs Yap and Wang were represented by lawyer G Subramaniam Nair.
https://theindependent.sg.sg/illegal-chemical-dumping-in-pasir-gudang-one-singaporean-charged-another-wanted-by-authorities/