JOHOR BARU, March 9 — The Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climatic Change (MESTECC) has no plans to amend the Environment Quality Act 1974 to provide stiffer punishments to environmental offenders.
Its deputy minister, Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis said the existing act was adequate to penalise them, but she did not deny the need to implement the enforcement of the act more effectively.
‘’To date, no amendments. The existing law is adequate. Only, we want the enforcements under the act to be implemented more effectively to tackle the problem,’’ she told a media conference after attending a briefing on the pollution of the KimKim River, Pasir Gudang at the Pasir Gudang Municipal Council’s Aqabah Tower today.
She said this when answering whether the ministry planned to amend the act as the penalties currently were too lenient and did not deter offenders from committing and repeating their misdeeds.
Under Section 34B of the act, any individual who is charged with an offence can be fined a maximum RM500,000 and jailed not more than five years.
Isnaraissah said the dumping of chemical waste in the KimKim River was the first case in Johor involving a scheduled waste and would be investigated under the same act and section. — Bernama
