Alor setar: A chicken slaughtering company in Bukit Pinang was fined RM30,000 by the Sessions Court for failing to comply with industrial effluent discharge standards after pleading guilty to two offences under the Environmental Quality Act 1974.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Kedah Department of Environment (DOE) director Sharifah Zakiah Syed Sahab stated that the fine was imposed following the company's guilty plea to two charges. The first charge involved releasing effluent containing concentrations of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5 at 20°C), Suspended Solids (SS), and Ammonia Nitrogen (AN) that exceeded the limits set in Standard B, Fifth Schedule. The second charge was for releasing effluent containing Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) beyond the limits set in Standard B, Seventh Schedule.

The offences were identified during an integrated enforcement operation conducted on July 22 of the previous year. DOE officers collected samples from the Final Discharge Point at the company's Industrial Effluent Treatment System (SPEP), which were subsequently analyzed by the Chemistry Department. The analysis confirmed breaches of environmental regulations.

Sessions Court judge N. Priscilla Hemamalini imposed the RM30,000 fine after the company director, representing the firm, pleaded guilty to both charges. The company was charged under Regulations 11(1)(b) and 12(b) of the Environmental (Industrial Effluent) Regulations 2009, which carry penalties under Regulation 32 of the same regulations.