Court acquits company owners of open burning charge

The Pengerang sessions court has acquitted two construction company owners charged with allowing open burning at the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia (RRIM) compound in Kota Tinggi three years ago.

Judge Hidayatul Syuhada Shamsudin acquitted Fazilah Ahmad and Yusof Abdullah after ruling that the prosecution failed to prove they had the requisite power or right over the premises to allow the open burning.

Fazilah and Yusof were charged under Section 29A(1) of the Environmental Quality Act over the burning of wood piles and roots at the RRIM compound on July 7, 2023.

The environment department received complaints from local residents about open burning at the compound, where 10 piles of wood and roots from land-clearing activities were found, some of which were still smouldering and emitting smoke.

Fazilah and Yusof owned Syarikat Bina Bahagia Enterprise, which had undertaken land-clearing works at one of the building blocks at RRIM.

In acquitting them, Hidayatul said the company did not have “exclusive” control over the building block’s compound.

The court noted that the company was allowed to access the compound for two years under the terms of its contract, but its access remained regulated through a guard post and the registration of people entering and leaving.

“The Malaysian Rubber Board, which governs RRIM, also appointed its own officer to monitor the work they carried out,” Hidayatul said.

“Thus, the prosecution failed to establish that Bina Bahagia possessed the requisite power or right over the block to ‘allow’ open burning activities.”