Now, this another one of those what I would call pulling-wool-over-rakyats'-eyes. The bill, I mean, not the writer. In truth, the spirit of the bill is one that is long overdue. But, there's always a but in any legal issues when one takes heed of the ruling party's penchant of acting as the judge, jury and executioner in all matters, especially when a prosecuted person is their crony and what not.
Anyway as mentioned, to make it clear to any who may be confused by the long statement above (as I was), will the bill really have any serious implications? That is to mean, will offenders really be prosecuted? Please remember that not only the local governments, but the ruling party is rife with allegations of graft and curruption.
Also, there's one clause here which I would like to bring to attention: The Bill stipulates that a person charged with the offence, cannot use as his defence that the licensee who
owns or provides the water supply did not take any action to stop the supply of water as soon as it became aware that it had been contaminated.
On first read it looks well and good. But when one is reminded of a recent episode where the water supply to Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putra Jaya was contaminated with pollutants from a waste-disposal site, one wonder who the bill is trying protect: the consumers or the GLC and governement department concerned?
Going by this bill, and if the above incident were to be repeated, it would be easy for the prosecutors to put the entire blame on a minor offender instead of the real culprit itself. Say for instance a truck laden with cement suddenly find itself wading in a river where at the same time and river, some GLC factory accidently released mercury into its drain which leads to the river; would the driver and the company he's driving for be entirely blamed? I'm pretty sure they
would - be solely blamed, that is.
This bill seem to lessen the responsibilities of the companies concerned with ensuring not only the supply of water, but the supply of clean and consumable water to the public. It also seek to remove the government agencies from being blamed on such issues. In other words, this bill is anti-public and anti-consumer. FOMCA and other smiliar bodies should look into this matter. If not, then the opposition should. Simply because we can no longer trust the ruling part.
From: Raja Petra Kamarudin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Jail and death proposed for offenders who pollute water
Malaysia Today
http://www.malaysia-today.net/index.html
The Star
Anyone who intentionally contaminates the water supply to endanger and cause the loss of lives will be punished with the death penalty or face up to 20 years' jail and whipped.
If the contaminant is radioactive or toxic but does not result in death, the offender will be liable to up 10 years in jail, a fine of up to RM500,000, whipping or all three.
For other water contamination offences, the penalty will be up to one year's jail or RM100,000 fine or both.
These are among the provisions provided under the Water Services Industry (WSI) Bill 2006, tabled for first reading in Parliament by Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik yesterday.
A person caught bathing, releasing waste or throwing rubbish or any creature â dead or alive â into any public water supply system, if convicted can end up paying a fine of up to RM50,000 or serve up to six months in jail or both under the proposed Act.
He faces the same sentence if he damages any pipe, channel, conduit, sewer, manhole, reservoir, cistern, pump, hydrant, valve, meter, sub-meter or any part of any public water or sewerage system.
He will also be liable to pay compensation to the licensee for the damage.
The Bill stipulates that a person charged with the offence, cannot use as his defence that the licensee who owns or provides the water supply did not take any action to stop the supply of water as soon as it became aware that it had been contaminated.
As for water quality, the Bill provides that the water distribution licensee will, when supplying water to any premises, ensure that the quality complied with the minimum quality standards prescribed by the minister.
If he contravenes this requirement and is convicted, he could end up paying a fine of up to RM300,000 or be jailed up to three years or both.
--
Posted by Raja Petra Kamarudin to MT-News at 4/11/2006 10:18:00 AM
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