JOHOR BARU: More than 400 residents, including students from two villages near Sungai Kim-Kim in Pasir Gudang here, are expected to file a civil suit against those involved in the toxic waste pollution that affected more than 2,000 residents here five years ago.
The residents believe they have a strong foundation following the decision of the Johor Baru Sessions Court, last Thursday, which sentenced a lorry driver a maximum of RM100,000 for the illegal disposal of scheduled waste in Sungai Kim Kim, Pasir Gudang, Johor, in 2019.
The Chairman of the Sungai Kim Kim Toxic Waste Case Residents Action Body Mohd Rafee Abdullah, said about 200 victims are expected to discuss filing a civil suit.
He said the committee represented the residents of Taman Pasir Putih, Pasir Gudang, one of the most affected areas due to the pollution.
"The Resident's Action Body for the Sungai Kim-Kim Toxic Waste Case will immediately call all 200 victims to gather and discuss within this month regarding the civil suit we will present.
"Among the victims included 13 school students who were treated in the Sultan Ismail Hospital (HSI) ward due to fainting after inhaling toxic gas while at school with three students admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) due to their critical condition.
"This civil suit action follows the decision by Sessions Court last week, giving us a solid basis to start the suit.
"We will also discuss appointing suitable lawyers to file the civil suit later, especially the lawyers who followed the Sungai Kim Kim case including lawyer Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, who had previously held a press conference about Sungai Kim Kim," he said.
Meanwhile, about 200 residents of Kampung Bukit Pulai will also follow up with a civil suit against the polluters.
The former Head of Zone 57 of Kampung Bukit Pulai, Zulkifly Kassim, said several villagers who were victims of the river's toxic waste had contacted him to start a civil suit.
He said when the toxic waste tragedy occurred in March 2019, he was the head of the village zone in charge of managing the residents' compensation claims from the state government.
"In principle, the residents of Kampung Bukit Pulai agreed to establish an action committee for Sungai Kim Kim victims to start a civil suit and we plan to start it in the near future.
"The village of Bukit Pulai is one of the badly affected areas due to approximately 1.5 kilometres of the river flowing through the village with the residents' houses located on its banks.
"There are villagers affected, including pregnant mothers who fainted when they smelled the toxic fumes, babies who were treated in the ward, as well as fishermen who lost their income when they could not go down to the river for almost half a year," he said.
Mohd Khairul Azam expressed his interest in working with the Resident's Action Body to file a civil suit against the polluters.
He said he would contact the committee to enable discussions before starting the case.
He said the civil suit case has a strong foundation based on the suffering of the victims suffering health effects due to the toxic waste.
"Even the mastermind who pleaded guilty and was sentenced by the Sessions Court last week will strengthen the civil suit that will be filed by the victims," he said.
Last Thursday, a lorry driver was fined a maximum of RM100,000 for causing a pollution incident involving the illegal disposal of scheduled waste in Sungai Kim Kim.
The sentence was handed down last Thursday after the accused, N. Maridass, pleaded guilty to the charges.
The Environment Department said in a statement that Maridass was found to have released oil sludge — a scheduled waste listed in the First Schedule of the Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulations 2005, into the river.
It said P Tech Resources Sdn Bhd, which faced eight charges under the Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulations 2014, was also fined RM40,000 for each charge, making it a total of RM320,000, of which the maximum penalty should be RM500,000.
The cases against Maridass and P Tech Resources were tried together, and 38 witnesses were called to testify.