Inquest into fireman’s death will be thorough – Zuraida

ALOR SETAR: The inquest to determine the cause of death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim will be conducted thoroughly to avoid any loopholes which can be exploited by certain quarters.

Housing and Local Government (KPKT) Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said the inquest was not deliberately delayed as time was needed to ensure that the best is being done as this was a matter of public interest.

“We will ensure that the process is fair and thorough. Previously too Muhammad Adib was given the best treatment ... we are thankful that his family agreed to have the post-mortem conducted and the reports have been completed.

“Usually the inquest will take a month but we may complete it in a much shorter time as the necessary information are already available,” she told reporters after visiting Muhammad Adib’s family in Kampung Tebengau, Kuala Kedah here yesterday.

According to Zuraida at the first inquest to be conducted at the Coroner’s Court on Jan 18, all witnesses including the doctors who treated him and pathologists who performed the autopsy would be summoned.

On Dec 28 Solicitor General III of Malaysia, Datuk Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria, said the Attorney-General’s Chambers had filed papers for the inquest at the Registrar’s office in Shah Alam and case management of the inquest to determine Muhammad Adib’s cause of death had also been fixed on Jan 18.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Adib’s mother, Asma Aziz, 51, hoped that the inquest proceedings could be conducted and resolved quickly.

“I hope those responsible for his death, including the masterminds will be arrested soon. Whatever the case I accept his death as fate,” she said.

On investigations into the death of six firemen who drowned during a rescue operation in a mining pool in Puchong on Oct 3, Zuraida said the report has reached the final stages before being tabled to the Cabinet.

“All those who died will be given posthumous promotion just like Muhammad Adib and the welfare of their families will be taken care of,” she said.

Meanwhile in Kulim, Zuraida called on the Department of Environment (DOE) to monitor operations of plastic waste recycling plants and submit their reports to KPKT once every six months.

She said this measure must be taken to ensure that the factories operate in accordance with standard operating procedures (SOPs) as set by the ministry, to protect and improve the environment.

“With the reports available it will facilitate cooperation and enforcement between both parties,” she told reporters after visiting two waste recycling factories here yesterday.

Later, in Bukit Mertajam, Zuraida urged the Royal Malaysian Customs Department to conduct thorough inspections to ensure that every plastic waste container brought into the country complied with the new rules and regulations established by KPKT.

She said the Customs Department would be given a briefing to enable them to identify the imported plastic wastes.

“KPKT has implemented several new rules and regulations on import of plastic wastes and we want the Customs Department to ensure that the importers abide by our guidelines.

Citing the case involving 175 containers of plastic wastes which did not obtain a KPKT import permit (AP) and were stranded at Penang Port Container Terminal,” she said the importer had made a false declaration to avoid being detained by the authorities.