Landmark Victory For Sungai Kim Kim Victims After Seven-year Legal Struggle

JOHOR BAHRU, Sept 9 (Bernama) -- After seven long years, 171 victims of toxic waste pollution in Sungai Kim Kim, Pasir Gudang, have won their civil suit against a company and three others, at the High Court here today.

Judicial Commissioner Manira Mohd Nor held tyre-processing company P Tech Resources Sdn Bhd, its two directors Yap Yok Liang and Wang Jing Chao, and tanker lorry driver N. Maridass jointly and severally liable for the 2019 toxic pollution at Sungai Kim Kim.

In her judgment, Manira held that, from the perspective of public nuisance, the court took into account the scale of the incident, which affected over 6,000 residents.

Of these, 2,775 required hospital treatment and led to the closure of 111 schools in Pasir Gudang, with victims suffering shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, muscle cramps, and fainting.

"The first wave on March 7 hit nearby schools with acute clinical effects. The second and third waves on March 12 and 13 saw a sharp rise in emergency cases, ultimately prompting the Education Ministry to shut down all schools in Pasir Gudang,” she said.

At the liability stage, the court ordered the four defendants to pay RM100,000 in costs to all 171 plaintiffs, covering two jointly heard cases: a personal injury suit by 42 plaintiffs and a claim by 129 fishermen for losses due to diminished catches. The quantum of damages for all plaintiffs will be assessed at a later date. 

However, the court dismissed the 42 plaintiffs' claims against the first to eighth defendants, comprising government agencies, public officers and public authorities, ordering them to pay RM10,000 in costs to each defendant, totalling RM80,000.

The fishermen's claims against the same defendants had been struck out earlier, on Jan 13, 2021.

On the merits, the court allowed the personal injury claims of all 42 plaintiffs, comprising 32 children and 10 adults, against the four defendants, having found the physical injuries and their causal connection to the pollution proven on a balance of probabilities. The assessment of damages for all plaintiffs will be fixed at a later date.

In her one-hour judgment, Manira said there was a chain of circumstantial evidence which cumulatively linked P Tech Resources to the pollution, which included the discharge of 46,330 kilogrammes of liquid waste from the company's premises on March 5, 2019.

Two days later, on March 7, Maridass was found to have released oily waste or sludge into Sungai Kim Kim from a tanker lorry between 12.01 am and 1.00 am. He subsequently pleaded guilty to discharging the waste and was fined RM100,000 on Nov 30, 2023.

The court held that although Maridass's guilt in the criminal case was not binding on the civil court, his guilty plea was nonetheless admissible as evidence of an admission against his interest in the civil suit.

The court rejected P Tech Resources' defence that the discharged material was ordinary floor-wash water, as its own director conceded during cross-examination that the substance was sold to cement plants as a coal substitute.

Manira branded the admission a "boomerang", noting that a liquid with sufficient caloric value to fuel industrial combustion was inherently inconsistent with it being ordinary wash water.

The court also found that the company had neither sought the Department of Environment's (DOE) confirmation on whether the 46,330 kg of liquid was scheduled waste nor submitted any analysis to prove otherwise.

The trial spanned 20 days, with nine witnesses for the plaintiffs and 12 for the defence. The plaintiffs were represented by counsel Datuk Kamaruddin Ahmad, Walter Pereira, Kem Kumar Lopez and Radhiah Abdul Karim.

The first, second, third, and fifth defendants, namely the Johor state government, former Menteri Besar Datuk Osman Sapian, former Environment Exco Dr Sahruddin Jamal, and Department of Irrigation and Drainage director, were represented by assistant state legal advisors Muhammad 'Azzam Zainal Abidin and Arief Aiman Hamir Hamzah.

The fourth, seventh and eighth defendants, namely the Johor DOE director, DOE director-general, and the Government of Malaysia, were represented by senior federal counsel Zetty Zurina Kamarudin and Nurul Farhana Khalid.

The sixth defendant, Pasir Gudang Municipal Council, was represented by counsel Mohd Faizal Ahmad and Ahmad Ibrahim Hane.

-- BERNAMA