Workshop operator denies being behind last year's Sg Gong pollution
A tractor workshop operator has denied being responsible for a widespread water supply disruption in the Klang Valley last year.
Yip Chee Seng & Sons Sdn Bhd asserted this in its statement of defence against a lawsuit by Wangsa Maju MP Tan Yee Kew and over 800 consumers over the large-scale water supply disruption due to water pollution at Sungai Gong.
Besides the company, the other 17 defendants are the PKR-led Selangor government; the Selangor menteri besar; the state’s Drainage and Irrigation Department and its director; the Selayang Municipal Council; Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd; Authoriti Pengurusan Air Selangor; Pakar Scieno TW Sdn Bhd; the National Water Services Commission (Span)...
A tractor workshop operator has denied being responsible for a widespread water supply disruption in the Klang Valley last year.
Yip Chee Seng & Sons Sdn Bhd asserted this in its statement of defence against a lawsuit by Wangsa Maju MP Tan Yee Kew and over 800 consumers over the large-scale water supply disruption due to water pollution at Sungai Gong.
Besides the company, the other 17 defendants are the PKR-led Selangor government; the Selangor menteri besar; the state’s Drainage and Irrigation Department and its director; the Selayang Municipal Council; Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd; Authoriti Pengurusan Air Selangor; Pakar Scieno TW Sdn Bhd; the National Water Services Commission (Span); the Environmental Quality Council and its director-general; the federal government’s Department of Environment and its director-general; the federal government’s Drainage and Irrigation Department and its director-general; the environment and water minister; and the federal government.
On Sept 15 last year, four brothers who are board members of Yip Chee Seng & Sons, as well as a workshop manager, were charged in the Selayang Sessions Court in connection with the pollution in Sungai Gong, which resulted in water supply disruption to more than 1.2 million people. They were alleged to have committed the offence earlier that month, between Sept 2 and 3.
Through the statement of defence filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday, Yip Chee Seng & Sons contended that Tan and the other plaintiffs failed to show any proof that the workshop operator was behind the pollution at Sungai Gong.
“The first defendant (Yip Chee Seng & Sons) pleads that at all material times, there has been no disruption, negligence and/or strict liability committed by the first defendant against the plaintiffs.
“It is pleaded that at all material times, the first defendant has taken reasonable steps by appointing the first defendant’s contractors to handle the first defendant’s waste material.
“Therefore, the first defendant pleads that at all material times, there has never been any material disposed into the river by the first defendant.
“Hence, it is pleaded that any loss and/or damage suffered by the plaintiffs are not caused by the first defendant,” the workshop operator contended.
No concrete, clear facts
The firm claimed that the plaintiffs’ writ of summons and statement of claim did not disclose any concrete and clear facts that prove the issue of pollution at Sungai Gong originated from them.
Yip Chee Seng & Sons contended that the information being relied on by the lawsuit were ones issued by the media statements of Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (third defendant), which only revealed that the Sungai Gong water pollution issue was still under investigation by the authorities.
On Sept 3 last year in a media statement, Pengurusan Air Selangor announced the unscheduled water disruption due to stop-work orders on four water treatment plants, which affected seven regions, namely Kuala Lumpur, Petaling, Klang/Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor, Gombak and Kuala Langat.
Then two days later through another media statement on Sept 5, Pengurusan Air Selangor said that the four water treatment plants would resume operations in stages.
Unreasonable and baseless
The workshop operator further contended that the plaintiffs’ claim against it was over the difficulty of accessing clean water supply, which is a matter not under its responsibility.
“It is pleaded that at all material times, the water supply problem faced by the plaintiffs is caused by the failure of the authorities responsible in managing clean water supply,” the company claimed.
Yip Chee Seng & Sons added that the plaintiffs’ claim against it is unreasonable and baseless, and that in the event the court allows the claim, it would open the floodgates of cases by other individuals residing in the Klang Valley.
Meanwhile, the lawsuit came up for case management before the Kuala Lumpur High Court today, with the matter fixed for further case management on Oct 26.
