NEA and 2 employees charged over 2021 Tuas Incineration Plant blast that killed 2 men

The National Environment Agency (NEA) and two of its employees have been charged with workplace safety offences over a 2021 explosion at the Tuas Incineration Plant (TIP) which killed two men and injured another.

- Christine Tan

The charges, handed down on Dec 26, allege that NEA failed to take necessary measures to ensure the safety and health of its employees at work, contributing to the deaths of two of them, Mr Kwok Yeow Wai and Mr Wee Eng Leng.

The alleged failures of NEA also led to another employee, Mr Low Yin Choon, being injured.

Christopher Lee Yew Binn, 50, divisional director of the waste infrastructure operations and management division of NEA at the time, and Ng Wah Yong, 54, then general manager of TIP, were handed one charge each under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.

In a Facebook post after the charges were handed down, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said she will be making a statement at the next Parliament sitting in January to address the incident and charges.

She said of the fatal explosion: "It was an extremely sad and painful incident for all of us in the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment family. We continue to mourn the loss of our two colleagues." The explosion at the plant in Tuas Avenue 20 happened on Sept 23, 2021, at about 3.15pm.