JOHOR BARU: A man has testified in the High Court that his son's myokymia was a result of the Sungai Kim Kim toxic waste pollution in March 2019, and was not a pre-existing health condition.
Idham Wazir A Wahab, 53, said according to the health report, his son, Irfan Wafiy, 17, was diagnosed with asthma at the age of four and developed myokymia at 11 following the incident.
Myokymia of the eye is a condition where the eyelid twitches involuntarily.
"He no longer had health issues (asthma) after the age of four. While it's true that Irfan Wafiy was a born prematurely and required incubation after birth, I disagree with the claim that he has a history of seizures spanning a third of his life.
"I also disagree with the term 'seizure'. When he was a child, he once had a high fever and experienced shivering.
"He received hospital treatment to reduce the fever within a day. He never had asthma beyond that and never used an inhaler.
"There was absolutely no ongoing asthma problem. He only used a nebuliser in the hospital to help clear phlegm, but that cannot be defined as using an inhaler. Therefore, I do not agree that it should be classified as asthma," he testified in his reply to questions from Johor assistant legal adviser Muhammad Azzam Zainal Abidin, representing the Johor government, Mentri Besar and the state Health, Environment and Agriculture Committee chairman.
Today is the second day of the trial of the RM30 million suit, filed by 41 plaintiffs who were victims of the Sungai Kim Kim toxic waste pollution, before Judge Datuk Seri Samsulbahri Ibrahim.
Idham Wazir also disagreed with Muhammad Azzam's suggestion that Irfan Wafiy's childhood health issues contributed to his current condition following the pollution incident.
The witness revealed that he had to resign from his job to look after his son in the aftermath of the pollution.
Irfan Wafiy, currently studying at a school here, is the first plaintiff in the suit. The plaintiffs, who include students and members of the public, are represented by lawyers Datuk Kamarudin Ahmad, Walter Pereira, S. Kemkumar Savior Lopez and Radiyah Abdul Karim.
The 41 plaintiffs filed the suit in July 2019 against 12 defendants, including the Johor government, the state Environment Department, the state Irrigation and Drainage Department, Syarikat P Tech Resources Sdn Bhd and an employee as well as two of its directors.
In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants failed to ensure the safety and protection of Pasir Gudang residents from toxic waste pollution and did not promptly mobilise the State Disaster Management Committee to address the pollution in Sungai Kim Kim.
The court fixed Oct 14 and 15 to continue the trial. – Bernama
