MALAYSIAKINI.COM
7:39pm Thu Nov 21st, 2002

Incinerator project: a victory for residents
Claudia Theophilus

The decision to relocate the controversial mega-incinerator project is "good
and fair" because the move shows that the government listens to the people,
an opponent of the project said today.

Puchong protem residents action committee secretary HJ Lim said he really
appreciated what Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting had done
to relocate the plant.

Lim said the relocation was fought in the interest of all residents and
described their campaign as "a worthwhile effort".

He also thanked residents in and around Puchong for supporting the signature
and car sticker campaigns as well as contributing to the cause in cash and
kind.

He said from the 10 members initially, the protem action committee had
swelled to about 70.

Recounting the experience, Lim said there were times when they felt down
because they had to reach out to people personally and distribute pamphlets
from house-to-house.

He also urged the government to be more cautious when selecting the sites
for any major projects.

Good location

Yesterday, the cabinet agreed to relocate the controversial 1,500-tonne
capacity proposed incinerator, initially sited in Kampung Bohol to Broga,
about 40km south of Kuala Lumpur.

The incinerator is said to be the biggest of its kind in the world.

Lim said he visited Broga this morning "to see how the place was". The new
site is near a forest reserve.

"I was told by people there that the population was about 4,000. I also saw
lots of trees and greenery. I think it is a good location.

"I did this because I don't want others to say that our reasons to ask for
relocation was 'not-in-my-backyard-syndrome' on our part."

Asked about the possibility of a higher cost for garbage collection and
disposal, Lim said he has no comments yet because the protem committee's
objective was only relocation.

"We will leave it to the opposition parties to deal with those issues," he
added.

The protem action committee's legal advisor S Selvanathan said the whole
episode showed that residents' voices would be heard if actions are taken
within the ambit of the law and after careful considerations of the
implications.

"This committee's actions should be taken by all other residents groups in
overcoming problems arising between government and residents.

"Credit goes to each and every individual who signed the petition and who
put up the car stickers on their cars to show their dissatisfaction over the
incinerator project," he told malaysiakini.

Be sensitive

Selvanathan said that without the help and support of the petitioners, the
relocation would not have happened.

"It is important that the government realises that it has to be sensitive to
the needs of the people who form the backbone of the present government," he
said, adding a note of thanks to Serdang member of Parliament Yap Pian Hon
"who was with us throughout our ordeal".

Another protem action committee member Irene Chan wondered whether the
relocated plant will now be a liability to others, considering the health
risks involved.

"On the other hand, I'm happy that the government has agreed to relocate the
project.

"I feel that we, as residents and citizens, should all come forward to raise
issues affecting our lives. I feel that if our cause is genuine, we can get
the authorities to listen to us and act on it," she said.


SOURCE:
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/200211210018300.php

MALAYSIAKINI.COM
6:56pm Thu Nov 21st, 2002

Controversial mega-incinerator relocated near Semenyih
Claudia Theophilus

updated version The Malaysian government, relenting to public pressure, has
agreed to relocate the controversial RM1.5 billion thermal incinerator to
Broga, a small town near Semenyih about 40km south of Kuala Lumpur.

Several highly-placed sources in the Housing and Local Government Ministry
said the decision was made at yesterday's Cabinet meeting. A formal
announcement on the relocation is expected soon.

Meanwhile the national news agency Bernama today quoted Housing and Local
Government Minister Ong Ka Ting as saying that the relocation was due to
protest from residents although the incinerator uses the latest Japanese
gasitification technology which has been proven to be safe

Sources told malaysiakini the decision to relocate the incinerator was made
after authorities failed to reach a compromise with the residents in Puchong
and surrounding areas who did not want the incinerator in their backyard
even if capacity was reduced from1,500 tonnes to 600 tonnes of waste per
day.

"Although the residents got what they wanted, they will have to bear the
high transportation cost, which was the very reason why the plant was
proposed in Kampung Bohol," one of the sources warned.

"Looks like they are willing to pay more for purely selfish reasons and for
refusing to help the government resolve the waste management problem."

According to the ministry, Kuala Lumpur produces 16,000 tonnes of waste per
day which fills out available landfills space fast. The country's 230
landfills are scheduled for shutdown in two years' time.

When contacted today, Mohktar Dahlan, Selangor exco member for local
government, housing and squatters and environment, confirmed the federal
government's decision to relocate the incinerator plant from Kampung Bohol
to Broga.

"This was what the MB (Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo) briefed us
at yesterday's exco meeting."

Forest reserve site

China Press, in a report yesterday, quoted Ong as saying that the proposed
project will be moved to a less densely-populated area at the
Selangor-Negeri Sembilan border.

He said the decision was made after considering the vehement protests from
Puchong residents and feedback from Barisan Nasional (BN) members of
parliament around the area.

According to the Bernama report, Ong said the proposed hi-tech, modern plant
will be near a forest reserve in Semenyih.

The BN controls five of the six parliamentary constituencies - Serdang,
Lembah Pantai, Petaling Jaya Selatan, Subang and Cheras - while Seputeh is
under DAP.

Government sources also revealed that the relocation of the Puchong
incinerator, touted as the largest anywhere for gasification technology, to
Broga meant that two plants will be built there, including the Selangor
government's earlier proposal for a 1,200-tonne capacity plant.

Both plants, to manage municipal waste from Kuala Lumpur and the state
respectively, are expected to take up an area of about 300 acres.

Alternative route

Mokhtar said there were several housing estates in Broga. Describing the
sleepy hollow as an up-and-coming satellite township, he said a UK-based
university is also in the midst of setting up a campus there.

"Firstly, we (state government) will make sure that the plant we have
proposed has a very good system. We will also try to find an alternative
route for garbage trucks to bypass the housing areas."

The proposed project employs Japanese technology funded by a soft loan from
the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

Last January, the Malaysian government approved the construction of the
plant which will cost about RM50 million to maintain annually.

The residents began mobilising neighbouring residents associations in July
to campaign against the proposed project, and even set up a website
containing information on the hazards of dioxin, a cancer-causing agent
found in incinerator emissions.

By early November, the pro tem residents action committee managed to garner
135,000 signatures of residents in several housing estates within the 5-km
radius of the proposed plant which will affect an estimated one million
people.

The people threatened to express their protests through the ballot box if
the government did not heed their objections to the incinerator.

Japanese involvement

Three Japanese contractors - Ebara Corporation, Hitachi Zosen Corporation
and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd - have already been shortlisted but no
further details are available on the status of the tender awards.

However, sources said Ebara, a major player in incineration technology, is
likely to win the main contract.

A consortium of consultants comprising Tokyo-based Yachiyo Engineering Co
Ltd, Minconsult Sdn Bhd, HSS Integrated Sdn Bhd and Environmental and
Engineering Consultants Sdn Bhd will manage the proposed federal project.


SOURCE:
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/200211210018298.php

MALAYSIAKINI.COM
2:07pm Fri Nov 22nd, 2002

Ensure safety and health of Broga folks, demands DAP
Claudia Theophilus

The DAP has warned the government to ensure that the thermal
mega-incinerator project which has been relocated from Kampung Bohol,
Puchong, to Broga near Semenyih is "absolutely remote and far away" from
locals there.

Broga is located 40km south of Kuala Lumpur and straddles Negeri Sembilan
and Selangor. Its population is less than 4,000.

DAP national publicity chief Ronnie Liu said it was the duty of the minister
concerned - in this case the Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka
Ting (photo) - to enlighten local residents on the move to relocate the
world's largest incinerator of its kind to their backyard.

"While the relocation is a big relief for Puchong residents, it should not
be turned into a nightmare for the people of Broga," he said in a statement
issued immediately in reaction to the relocation.

Liu said Ong, who is also the Selangor MCA chairperson, must explain and
convince people in the state that the relocation was absolutely safe and not
a threat to their health and well-being.

The government's decision to re-site the RM1.5 billion incinerator with a
maximum capacity of burning 1,500 tonnes of waste daily was a cause for
jubilation for Puchong residents who had mobilised residents from
surrounding housing estates to oppose the project.

'Listen to us'

The relocated incinerator, one of several the government has on the drawing
board, was to cater for waste generated by urbanised areas south of Kuala
Lumpur including parts of Selangor in the light of rapidly-shrinking
landfill space throughout the country.

There are an estimated one million people within the 5km-radius study area
in Puchong and surrounding areas of Subang, Sunway, Petaling Jaya, Old Klang
Road and Bukit Jalil, although the Environmental Impact Assessment put the
figure at about 200,000.

When contacted later, Liu described Broga as a beautiful and peaceful place
with several small housing areas and rubber estates.

"It is also the hometown of the late Li Xian Nian, the former national vice
chairperson of the People's Republic of China," he said, adding that the DAP
would continue to monitor the relocation plan closely.

"We would not hesitate to fight against the project, as we had done for the
proposed plant in Kampung Bohol, if we are convinced that the safety and
good health of the people are compromised."

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok said the decision to relocate the incinerator was
"clear proof" that the government must take cognizance of the views and
opposition of the people.

"It cannot arbitrarily implement any decision or policy without due regard
to the people's welfare," she said in a statement.

Encouraging approach

The decision, she said, also represents the triumph of the rakyat,
especially the 135,000 residents who had signed the petition to protest the
incinerator in a campaign initiated by a group of concerned residents.

"While the relocation of the project is to be lauded, the manner in which
the government had kept mum about the issue, ordered a media blackout and
attempted to play down the potential health hazard is disconcerting."

Kok said the government, instead of leaving the residents in the dark,
should have done more to assuage their real fears and concerns.

She also urged the government against siting the incinerator near
residential areas.

The Puchong residents pro tem action committee vice-chairperson Edward Lee
said he felt very encouraged that the government has taken a positive
approach towards requests from residents.

"This is good for our country's future. We also understand that the Kampung
Bohol site will now be used for low-cost housing which will benefit the
rakyat.

All in all, said Lee, who is also the chairperson of the influential Section
5 residents association in Petaling Jaya, it had been a hard-fought battle.

"The government had listened to us because we had done our preparation very
carefully."


SOURCE:
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/200211220018307.php

THE SUNDAY MAIL
Sun, 24 Nov 2002

Relocation Of Incinerator Project:
Conduct thorough EIA at new incinerator site
Muzli Mohd Zin

Kampung Bohol Pro-tem Incinerator Action Committee chairman Abdul Rahman Abdul Manaf said this was to ensure that the project would not bring harm to the people around the new site.

"We don't want what was once our nightmare to be somebody else's," he said at a Press conference yesterday at a hotel in Selangor.

Kampung Bohol, in Puchong, Selangor, was the original proposed site for the incinerator but there were strong protests by residents in the area.

This prompted the Government to relocate the project to Broga.

Abdul Rahman said those appointed to prepare the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) should do it with great care as it would help the Government to decide whether to go ahead with the project.

"Let the Kampung Bohol episode, in which we feel that the EIA report was done in a slipshod manner, be a reminder and lesson to all, especially the authorities," he said.

"It is also hoped that the proposed new site's natural resources, being around a forest reserve, will not be polluted by the project." Abdul Rahman expressed the committee's gratitude to the Government and other authorities involved for deciding to relocate the incinerator.

During the event, the committee also donated a cheque totalling RM1,092.60 to Cherish Home, an orphanage in Puchong.

The amount constitutes the balance in the committee's accounts which is no longer needed as its objectives have been achieved.

Before the Press conference, Abdul Rahman had his hair cut and shaved by residents at the hotel's parking bay to fulfil his promise made on July 15, the day the committee was officially set up.

On Thursday, Housing and Local Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, in announcing the relocation, had said that the EIA report on the site would be made by the Department of Environment (DOE). Once it is completed, the incinerator would be built to treat household and commercial waste from Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.


SOURCE:
http://www.emedia.com.my/Current_Ne.../20021124115729

SUNDAY TIMES Singapore
NOV 24, 2002 SUN

Vote threat forces KL to shift rubbish plant site
After residents threaten to vote for the opposition if the project goes
ahead, the government decides to move its location

By Reme Ahmad

THE government will shift the site of a controversial RM1.5-billion (S$700-million) incinerator away from a densely populated area after angry residents signalled they might vote for the opposition if the plan went ahead.

The plant will be moved from the Puchong area in Selangor to a sparsely populated district near a forest reserve in the state.

The plant can burn 1,200 tonnes of waste a day and is said to be the world's biggest.

The shift is an indication of how the government has become sensitive to the potential loss of votes with the opposition breathing down its neck in Selangor state.

The opposition made inroads in the state in the 1999 polls, winning one parliamentary seat and four state seats while slashing the margin of defeat in all constituencies.

Polls are due at the end of 2004 but could be called as early as next year.

'Elections may be around the corner so the government has to be sensitive about what it is doing. You cannot ignore the growing protest,' said consumer activist N. Marimuthu.

Within a 5-km radius of the proposed rubbish plant project - described as a health hazard by opponents - are seven parliamentary seats and six seats for the Selangor state assembly.

Except one parliamentary seat, all constituencies are held by the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, said Mr Lim Hoon Joo, secretary of a pro-tem residents action committee formed to fight against the project.

He said about one million residents in the Chinese-majority areas could have been affected by the incinerator.

An official report on the project said 260,000 people lived within the 5-km radius.

'This is the first time that a huge project by the government is being shifted away. It is because the public is united with one voice,' he told The Sunday Times.

The website, No-incinerator.com, had attracted more than 33,600 visitors by yesterday while the four-month old signature campaign has 135,000 names.

And the campaign moved up by a gear in the past few weeks.

The residents' committee began urging people to register as voters so that they could show their unhappiness at the ballot box.

It was perhaps no surprise, then, that Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting announced on Thursday a decision to remove the potential ammunition for the opposition.


FULL STORY:
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/as...156724,00.html?