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Ong Ka Ting once again failed
to face the Broga/ Semenyih residents over the mega-incinerator
controversy. DAP to present memo to the DOE and the WHO office in
Malaysia before 25 April
Media Statement
by Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew
(Petaling Jaya,
Monday):
The residents of Broga/Semenyih and
their representatives have all the reasons to feel upset on last Sunday when
Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting failed to show up for a dialogue with the people at
the eleventh hour.
The walkout staged by the deputy
director-general of the Housing and Local Government Ministry Fong Teng Yong
without a valid reason only served to aggravate the matter. Ong Ka Ting's
absence has further lent credence to the belief that the government has
something to hide about the RM1.5 billion incinerator, and the biggest
incinerator in the world is after all "not that safe".
In a statement issued by me on April 8
this year, I said Ong Ka Ting should meet up with the Broga/Semenyih/ Kajang
residents and the No Incinerator pro tem committee if he is a
responsible minister.
In a "monologue" held in Semenyih on
Sunday 6 April 2003, the Housing and Local Government deputy minister Datuk
M. Kayveas and Hulu Langat MP Badrul Hisham Abdul Aziz had prevented the
members of the pro tem committee and other concerned residents to ask
questions on the mega-incinerator which might severely affect their health
and well-being. The intimidating attitude shown by both Kayveas and Badrul
Hisham had prompted some residents and the chairperson of the No-incinerator
pro tem committee to lodge police report against them.
What has Ong got to hide if the
incinerator is indeed safe and practical as claimed by every BN politician
and government leaders? If the incinerator is really safe, it should not
have been relocated to Broga from Kg Bohol in the first place. Ong must not
deny the right to information for a project concerns the health and safety
of the citizens.
To-date, no one from the BN government
has put up a convincing case for the mega-incinerator. All they have said
and claimed were based on the information given by the potential
manufacturer of the incinerator. No potential manufacturers or suppliers of
incinerators would jeopardise their own business by telling the truth or the
real danger of the project.
In a meeting between the pro tem
committee and the Japanese embassy in Malaysia last week, the
representatives were told that the billion Ringgit soft loans for the
project do not come from the Japanese government. It's Ong 's duty now to
tell us the source of fund for the ill-conceived incinerator project.
Everyone must realise now that the
incinerator issue is a national one, and every Malaysian (not only the local
residents) has the right to say yes or no to the incinerator. No less than
1.5 million people in the Klang Valley will be seriously affected if the
Broga/ Semenyih water catchment areas are contaminated by the proposed
incinerator project.
After paying visit to the site
personally, I have reasons to believe that the Broga site was wrongly chosen
out of misinformation and disinformation of facts by certain quarters. It
must really be out of mind for anyone to think of building an incinerator in
such a valuable and vulnerable water catchment area!
DAP has repeatedly voice our objection
to the incinerator based on safety and cost. We will submit a memorandum
with alternatives to the DOE before 26 April 2003. Copies will also be sent
to the local WHO office.
(21/4/2003)
* Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew, DAP
national publicity secretary and DAP Selangor secretary
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