'Catamaran not fit for sailing'
Published on: Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: The catamaran which capsized off Pulau Mengalum and claimed the lives of four Chinese tourists early this year was not cleared for sailing, a witness told the Tourism Court Monday.Jesselton Point Assistant Operation Manager Benie Ah Soi, 41, who testified as the 11th prosecution witness in the hearing of three accused in the tragedy, said the boat did not comply with the safety aspect and was not fit for sailing purposes. "Basic safety should be complied as this is stated on its licence but the boat did not comply during a first check on Jan 17. The boat had insufficient safety equipment," he said.
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Benie also told the court that the application by Syarikat Golden Sailing Travel Tour and Car Rental, which owned the catamaran, to register the boat to transport tourists to the Tunku Abdul Rahman (TAR) islands from Jesselton Point, was not approved."The company had applied to register the boat to transport tourists from Jesselton Point to the TAR islands on Dec 1, 2016. "But its application was not approved after the company failed to attend a second examination following the failure to comply on the safety aspect in the first examination."After the first examination, the company was asked to attend a second examination, which was supposed to be held on Jan 21, but not one representative from the company turned up.
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"We concluded that they were not interested to deal with us regarding the application and after Jan 21, we issued a letter informing them that their application was not approved," he said.On trial before Sessions Court Judge Noor Hafizah Mohd Salim are operator Leong Vin Jee, 44, his mother Chung Ket Siew @ Chung Siaw Ping, 64, whose name appears on the company licence, and skipper Sharezza Salian, 26.
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Chung, the Director of Syarikat Golden Sailing Travel Tour and Car Rental, has four charges against her and on one of the charges, she was jointly charged with Leong.The first charge – 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 second charge - negligently caused the death of four tourists by allowing Leong to use the boat and so loaded as to endanger human life.The third charge – 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 fourth charge – she and Leong were jointly charged with failing to keep the boat licence on the passenger boat at all times and 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.Leong has another four charges against him and on two of them he was jointly charged with Sharezza.Leong is accused of causing hurt to 20 Chinese tourists by permitting Sharezza to take the boat to sea negligently as to endanger their lives and also allegedly negligently causing the deaths of the four tourists by allowing Sharezza to use the boat to sea in such as state and so loaded as to endanger their lives.For the first joint charge, Leong and Sharezza are accused of failing to keep on the passenger boat the appropriate safety equipment, the lifejackets and the life buoys as specified in the Fourth Schedule of the Ports and Harbours (Sabah Licenced Small Ships) Regulations 2008, at all times.The second joint charge – Leong and Sharezza allegedly embarked 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.For Sharezza, he is facing another charge 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.Leong is also facing a charge of overloading the catamaran with tourists which endangered the passengers' lives while Sharezza had served the six months' jail sentence for overloading the catamaran with tourists.Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Nartiah M. Sambatan, who was assisted by DPP Nurun Nazifah Muhammad Iyen from the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency, conducted the prosecution.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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