KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 — Authorities will prosecute tomorrow one of the three people arrested for illegal chemical dumping in Pasir Gudang, Johor, that led to toxic fumes in the area, said Yeo Bee Yin.
According to national news agency Bernama, the energy, technology, science, climate change and environment minister also warned that rain could have caused the contamination to spread despite efforts to contain it.
“I communicated with AG to tell him the severity of the case and inquired the possibility of multiple charges instead of just EQA,” Yeo said on Facebook, referring to the Environmental Quality Act 1974.
She said her ministry will also give their full support to the Johor government in mobilising the Department of Environment’s (DOE) resources.
“I have instructed DOE headquarters during my visit on Sunday to mobilise resources to help DOE Johor to identify the suspects. Now we will mobilise even more so to give full support to Jawatankuasa Bencana,” she said, using the Malay term for the Disaster Management Committee.
The Bakri MP also explained that the Disaster Management Committee will be headed by the Johor state government, which will be responsible for cleaning up Sungai Kim Kim as soon as possible.
She said the committee will also be involved in the schools’ closure and all coordination work.
Yeo said she hoped that the public will only spread official updates and not fall for fake news and rumours through unsolicited Facebook updates on the Pasir Gudang situation.
“The Disaster Management Committee will do most of the crisis management updates, so there is only one focal point of information,” she said.
Toxic fumes have resulted in the closure of 34 schools in Pasir Gudang.
It has also resulted in over 560 people seeking medical attention for the inhalation of noxious vapours as of 1pm today.
