KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 — Police have found that several of the nine detainees held over the chemical contamination that has poisoned over 1,000 people in Pasir Gudang, Johor have had prior criminal records.
Investigations also showed all nine are working for companies that are interlinked, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun disclosed today.
“Initial investigations showed some were involved in other crime elements, however our focus now is to investigate them for environmental crime.
“The other crime issues we will investigate later on,” he told reporters after witnessing a memorandum of understanding signed by Koperasi Polis Diraja Malaysia Bhd, the Retired Senior Police Officers Association of Malaysia and Persatuan Industri Keselamatan Malaysia here.
Mohamad Fuzi however demurred from confirming if the mastermind behind the illegal dump of chemical waste into Sungai Kim Kim was among the nine detained so far.
“It’s too early to establish that, let us investigate further but what I can say is all nine had direct involvement,” he said.
All the suspects will be remanded till March 23 for investigations.
To date, 76 police reports have been lodged on the incident.
The toxic pollution in Sungai Kim Kim started on March 7. To date more than 4,000 people, including students, have been treated forcing all 111 schools in Pasir Gudang to be closed until further notice.
Yesterday, Education Minister Maszlee Malik announced that all the affected schools will stay closed until the midterm break next week as a precaution against the contamination.
He said the decision was made after a briefing with the authorities and agencies involved in the clean-up operation here.
For Johor, the gazetted school holidays start on March 22 until March 30. The state observes Friday and Saturday as a rest day, while Sunday is a working and schooling day.
Maszlee also said the ministry has not decided on the replacement for the days missed as a result of the enforced closure, saying the matter will be discussed later.
