Mother of operator also hauled before court
Published on: Friday, March 17, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Additional charges were slapped on the two main players – operator and skipper – blamed for the catamaran tragedy off Pulau Mengalum here, Thursday, but in a surprise move the operator's 64-year-old mother was also hauled before the court.Chung Ket Siew @ Chung Siaw Ping, whose name appears on the licence of the company which operated the boat as director, was charged with four counts and in one of which she was jointly charged with her son.Her son, Leong Vin Jee, 44, as operations manager of the company, now faces five additional charges after having been initially charged with overloading the catamaran with tourists which endangered the passengers' lives while boat skipper Sharezza Salian, 26, who is presently serving sentence for overloading the catamaran with tourists, now faces four more charges.
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Chung, Leong and Sharezza pleaded not guilty before Tourism Court Judge Noorhafizah Mohd Salim, who is also a Sessions Court Judge, to all the charges against them.The charges stem from the Jan 28 incident where a catamaran with 31 people on board, including 28 tourists from China, and three crew headed for Pulau Mengalum but sank after departing from an undesignated jetty in Kg Tanjung Aru, here.The boat tragedy claimed the lives of four tourists from China with four tourists and a crew still missing. The search is still ongoing.
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In Thursday's proceedings, on the first count, Chung, the Director of Syarikat Golden Sailing Travel Tour and Car Rental, is accused of causing hurt to 20 Chinese tourists by permitting Leong to manage and use the boat to sea so negligently as to endanger their lives.The offence under Section 337 of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to six months, or fine of up to RM1,000, or both, on conviction.
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On the second count, she is alleged to have negligently caused the death of four tourists, namely, He Runyuan, 46, Wang Jianyi, 38, Xie Luo, 49, and Zhang Xiau Kun, 27, by allowing Leong to use the boat and so loaded as to endanger human life.She was charged under Section 304A of the Penal Code which provides for a jail term of up to two years, or fine, or both, on conviction.On the third count, Chung as the registered owner of the boat, is accused of having Sharezza as the skipper without altering and reporting the particulars of a skipper named Leong Vin Jee in the Sabah Small Ship Licence to the nearest licensing authority – Sabah Ports and Harbours Department.The offence under Regulations 13 of the Ports and Harbours (Sabah Licensed Small Ships) 2008 and punishable under Regulations 21 of the same regulations carries a jail term of up to two years, or a fine of up to RM500,000, or both, on conviction.On the fourth count, she and Leong were jointly charged with failing to keep the boat licence on the passenger boat at all times and that they allegedly committed the offence under Regulations 9 of the Ports and Harbours (Sabah Licensed Small Ships) 2008, the punishment for which is as stated under Regulations 21 of the same Regulations.Meanwhile, Leong, on the second count, is accused of causing hurt to 20 Chinese tourists by permitting Sharezza to take the boat to sea so negligently as to endanger their lives.On the third count, he allegedly negligently caused the death of the four tourists as stated in Chung's second charge by allowing Sharezza to use the boat to sea in such as state and so loaded as to endanger their lives.On the fourth count, Leong was jointly charged with Sharezza with failing to keep on the passenger boat the appropriate safety equipment, the life jackets and the life buoys as specified in the Fourth Schedule of the Ports and Harbours (Sabah Licenced Small Ships) Regulations 2008, at all times.They allegedly committed the offence under Regulations 16/34 of the Ports and Harbours and punishable under Regulations 21 of the same Regulations which carries a jail term of up to two years, or a fine of up to RM500,000, or both, on conviction.On the fifth count, Leong was charged together with Sharezza, with embarking two crew and 28 passengers from an undesignated landing point - Kg Tanjung Aru Lama Jetty, here, and that the offence falls under Regulation 13/34 of the Ports and Harbours Regulations.The passengers were Yan Yan Xin,50, Fan Li Xia, 41 Yan Si Yie, 17, Shen Hao Tian, 17, Chen Yi,48, Yang Yao Ru, 50, Wang Xian Zhong, 48, Cao Dong Yue, 26, Wie Yin, 31, Li Feng, 39, Chen Xin Jian, 24, He Hai Min, 29, He Zi Hao, 21, Guo Shun Ke, 49, Tan Ting, 30, Luo Guo Hong, 30, Zeng Chi Yuan, 55, Liu Jin Can, 31, Pa Liu Juan, 32, Liu Fei Tong, 32, Xie Luo, 48, He Runyuan, 46, Zhang Xiao Kun, 27, Wang Jianyi, 38, Shen Jiang Jian, 50, Dong Mei, 52, Liu Hong Yuan, 51,Yu Xuan Li, 10 and the crew were Aman Abdul, 38, Absoy Kasim, 26.On the third count, Sharezza is accused of causing hurt to 20 Chinese tourists by taking the boat to sea so negligently as to endanger their lives and on the fourth count, he allegedly negligently caused the death of the four tourists as stated in Chung's second charge.All the offences allegedly took place at the Golden Sailing Travel Tour and Car Rental Sdn Bhd premises in Asia City, here, Kg Tanjung Aru Lama Jetty, waters off the coast of Mengalum Island, off here, between 9.15am and 11am on Jan 28 this year.The court fixed June 6-16 to jointly hear all the cases including Leong's case for overloading the catamaran with tourists which endangered the passengers' lives, which had earlier been transferred from Magistrate's Court.For the additional charges, Leong was released on a bail of RM19,000 with RM3,500 deposited in a local surety, while Chung and Sharezza were offered bail at RM16,000 with RM3,000 deposited in a local surety each.Earlier, Senior Federal Counsel Robert Pasang Alam, who was assisted by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Nartiah F. Michelle Sambatan and Martime DPP Nurun Nazifa Mohd Iyen, proposed bail at between RM5,000 and RM3,000 for all the accused pending the disposal of their cases.Robert submitted that the case is a high-profile case as it involved tourists from another country.Counsel Lindsay Michael who stood in for counsel Edward Paul, representing Leong and Chung, asked for a lower bail to be offered to her clients.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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