Highly irresponsible
for the Government to go ahead with Broga incinerator without coming clean
on incinerator safety
Media Statement
by John Chung
(Petaling Jaya,
Friday):
It is highly
irresponsible for the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the Selangor
State Government to insist on going ahead with the construction of the Broga
incinerator without coming clean on the safety of the proposed incinerator.
Even after a
series of meetings with a pro tem committee representing Broga residents,
both the Ministry and the State Government have yet to fully convince the
residents about the safety of the project and to allay their fears.
How can the
Ministry and the State Government claim that the proposed incinerator is
safe when during the meetings with the resident representatives, they cannot
even shed light on the details of the project in response to the queries
posed, much less produce documented studies and research findings to support
their contention?
This basic
failure by the authorities to answer pertinent questions and address the
legitimate concerns of the residents will only increase public doubt on the
safety of the incinerator. If the incinerator technology that will be used
is truly as safe as the government claims it to be, surely it is not too
difficult for the government to provide concrete proof to refute allegations
to the contrary and put the matter to rest once and for all.
The inability
of even the highest ranking government leaders concerned, whether Housing
and Local Government Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, his deputy Datuk M.
Kayveas or Selangor Mentri Besar, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo to
convincingly assure the Broga residents of the incinerator's safety is
therefore disconcerting, to say the least.
For instance,
in the last meeting between Khir Toyo and the residents, it was reported
that he could not even answer basic questions such as the Japanese company
which would build the incinerator or the technology that would be used for
incineration of waste when Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's
Department, Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar had last year announced that three
companies had been short-listed for tender for the project, namely Ebara
Corporation, Hitachi Zosen Corporation and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd,
and it is abundantly clear that the incineration technology that would be
utilized is a fluidized bed one and based on a gasification and ash melting
system.
Moreover, it
is improper for the Ministry and the State Government to give the 'go ahead'
for Broga to house the incinerator without the completion of an EIA report.
It should not be forgotten that the EIA report on the previous proposed
incinerator in Kg. Bohol which was subsequently met with widespread protests
was replete with various flaws.
Sahabat Alam
Malaysia, when commenting on the said Kg. Bohol incinerator EIA report, had
stated that the authorities concerned appeared to have pre-decided on the
type of technology that was to be used without giving due consideration to
other types of technologies which are proven. Hence, it is important that a
comprehensive and non-bias EIA be carried out on the suitability of Broga
instead of turning the EIA exercise into one of mere formality which seems
to be the case at hand.
No one disputes the need of resolving the escalating waste
problem in
Klang Valley but the
question remains as to whether the type of incineration technology proposed
by the government is safe enough, taking into account the health of the
surrounding residents.
There is no reason
why the authorities cannot consider other types of proven waste disposal
technologies such as material recovering facilities (MRF) and refuse derived
fuel (RDF) instead on embarking on a largely untested technology for a plant
of an unprecedented scale. Even if the proposed technology has to be used,
surely it would be more prudent and sensible to build smaller size plants so
that any ill-effects could be minimized and spread out.
In any case, the
easiest way out from this no win situation for the
residents, one would
have imagined, is to site the incinerator at an area that is unpopulated.
Surely land in Selangor is not so scarce to the extent that the Ministry and
the State Government cannot find a site for the incinerator that is isolated
enough. The onus is thus on the authorities concerned to show that they are
caring enough to heed the protests of the Broga residents.
(7/2/2003)
*
John Chung, DAP
National Publicity Bureau Assistant Secretary
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