TWO Malaysians and a Singaporean allegedly involved in dumping chemical waste into Sg Kim Kim, Pasir Gudang, appeared in court today.

The Malay-language paper Berita Harian reported that the suspects – two directors and a lorry driver were brought to the Johor Baru Sessions Court this morning.

The trio, along with five other suspects, were ordered to be remanded on March 18 after they were detained by police on suspicions that they had dumped toxic chemicals into the river.

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 is accused of illegally disposing of chemicals into Sg Kim Kim on March 7. Wang and Yap are accused of conspiring with Maridass.  

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

They pleaded not guilty before judge Jailani Rahman.  

It is learnt they will face more charges following the incident at Sg Kim Kim that affected thousands of lives. – March 24, 2019