Excerpt from: Sungai Selangor pollution: Father and son charged. New Straits Times Online, 3/11/2020.

SELAYANG: A 62-year-old man and his son who are allegedly behind the raw water source contamination in Sungai Selangor were charged at the Sessions Court here today. The duo were charged with committing mischief by discharging effluents that disrupted piped water supply to 1.2 million people near Sungai Gong in Rawang.

Chai Kin Siang and his son Chai Wern Teik, 31, however, pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to them before Sessions Court Judge Maziah Joary Mohd Tajuddin. The accused, who are directors of a company repairing and selling construction machinery, were charged under Section 430 of Penal Code. They are facing a maximum 30 years' imprisonment or a fine or both upon conviction. The offence was allegedly committed at Lot 16273 Jalan Sungai Bakau, Batu Arang Rawang between Oct 17 and 19 this year.

Meanwhile, both of them were also slapped with one charge of releasing untreated effluents into the same river at the same place and time. The offence falls under Section 25(1) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code which carries five years' imprisonment or maximum RM100,000 fine or both, upon conviction.

Deputy public prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad urged the judge not to allow bail for both accused after arguing that the court should consider the frequent incident of water pollution since September which had caused inconvenience to almost six million people. "However, if bail is allowed, I propose RM2 million with one surety for each of the accused," he said.

Counsel Nor Muhammad Izzat Nordin who represented both of them pleaded for RM200,000 bail with one surety. "Both of them are sole breadwinners in their families," he said. The court then set RM400,000 bail for each of the accused and fixed Dec 16 for mention. It was reported that the duo were arrested on Oct 21 near Rawang after initial investigations found that the pollution detected in Sungai Gong was suspected to have started from the company.

An abnormal odour was detected at the raw water source in Sungai Selangor at 12.38am on Oct 19, causing operations at the Rantau Panjang Water Treatment Plant (LRA) to be stopped. At 2am the same day, Sungai Selangor LRA Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3 had to be shut down when an odour pollution of three TON (Threshold Odour Number) was detected. The stop work order at four plants had caused unscheduled water supply disruption involving 1,196,457 account holders covering 1,292 areas in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling, Klang, Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor, Gombak and Kuala Langat.

i. Water pollution is a serious problem in Malaysia and impacts negatively on the sustainability of water resources. Identify THREE (3) causes of water pollution occur in Malaysia.

(3 marks)

ii. Discuss THREE (3) effects of water pollution to the ecosystem.

(6 marks)

iii. Elaborate THREE (3) steps to reduce the water pollution.

(6 marks)