Media Statement
By DAP National Publicity Bureau Assistant Secretary and DAP Kg. Bohol
Incinerator Community Awareness Campaign Committee Secretary, John Chung
in Petaling Jaya
on Friday, 27th September 2002
The Government should put on hold the
construction of the Kg. Bohol incinerator and examine the serious health
concerns of such a project
Yesterday, Deputy Minister in the Prime
Minister’s Department, Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar announced that the tender
for the RM1.4 billion incinerator project in Kg. Bohol, Puchong would be
finalised soon. (The Star)
He said that the contract for the
project would be given out soon as three Japanese contractors, namely Ebara
Corporation, Hitachi Zosen Corporation and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd, had
been shortlisted for the tender.
This disclosure is very worrying indeed
as it shows the Government’s apparent intention of proceeding with the
construction of the incinerator in Kg. Bohol despite the many objections raised
by the local community concerning the health effects of the incinerator.
The Government should take cognisance of
the strong protests of 130,000 local residents who have signed a petition
opposing the construction of the incinerator and not arbitrarily dismiss their
concerns by going ahead with the project.
A detailed study of the Environment
Impact Assessment (EIA) report on the project concerned would reveal many
glaring and disturbing flaws and weaknesses, which if not addressed, will have
grave repercussions on the health of a staggering one million residents (about
4% of the Malaysian population) living within a 5-7 km radius from the earmarked
site.
Some of the worrying aspects are:
The report provides only for a 500m buffer zone and
fails to take into account residents staying within a 7.5km radius as per
international standard. The fact that the report recommended the relocation of
the nearby Kinrara Army Hospital and Army Residential Area clearly shows the
danger posed by the project. Yet, the same report did not consider the health
impact of the incinerator on the school children of a Tamil primary school
located in the same area.
The data in the report are based on similar
treatment plants in Japan which are capable of treating only 100-240 tonnes of
waste per day, whereas the proposed incinerator (one of the biggest in the
region) has a maximum capacity of treating 1,500 tonnes of waste per day. In
fact, the report admitted that there are no existing data for a plant of this
size in the world. The fluidized bed technology that will be used for the
gasification and ash melting system of the plant is also an unproven one.
The
report also admitted that from official records obtained, there are serious
respiratory-related problems amongst adults and children in the area. The
incinerator would only worsen an already unhealthy area!
In
view of this, the Housing and Local Government Ministry, which is overseeing the
project, should not proceed with the construction until and unless it addresses
the many questionable aspects of the project.
Due
to threat to health posed by the emission of dioxin and other toxic gases from
incinerators, such waste treatment plants should be located outside an urban
zone and not right smack in the middle of a densely populated area.
The
authorities must realise that we cannot afford such a costly experiment like the
Kg. Bohol incinerator project, as the long-term health and well being of too
many people are at stake.
I
therefore urge the authorities concerned to shelf the tendering of the contract
for the project and heed the calls from various quarters to relocate the
incinerator to a site safely away from residential areas.