KL incinerator plan upsets residents

Kuala Lumpur - For more than 20 years, Jinjang district in northern Kuala Lumpur was the main dumping ground for the city's rubbish, until the dump closed six years ago.

Today, the landfill is covered with shrubs and trees and housing estates creep ever closer despite the lingering stench of garbage.

"Imagine having to live near this every day," said Mr Tan Seng Giaw, who has been MP for 31 years for the Kepong constituency, where Jinjang is located.

The respite - as much as it is one - is likely to be short.

The government recently announced a plan to extend Jinjang's history with garbage, with a plan to build Malaysia's first big incinerator - costing between RM600 million (S$234 million) and RM800 million - that can burn 1,000 tonnes of garbage a day.

It is one of three large incinerators to help Malaysia dispose of part of the 33,000 tonnes of solid waste thrown out each day - of which 3,300 tonnes comes from Greater Kuala Lumpur, as the districts of KL and south Selangor are called. The other two are planned for Batu Pahat in Johor and Sungai Udang, Malacca.

How the Najib administration handles the construction of a large incinerator near an urban centre will be closely watched as Malaysia's 296 landfills cannot continue to take in the growing rubbish, expanding at 3.4 per cent each year.

Most residents of Kepong, which has a total of 360,000 people, are naturally unhappy.

"They should build it at a more remote place. How safe would this be?" asked Mr Kelvin Quek, an insurance salesman outside Brem Mall in Kepong.

Several residents said they were concerned the incinerator may emit poisonous fumes such as cancer-causing dioxins. Others worry about Malaysia's spotty reputation for construction and maintenance of big facilities.

Today, the capital city's rubbish is still sent to Jinjang to be compacted by machines at a transfer station before being loaded on bigger trucks to be sent 50km north to a landfill in Bukit Tagar.

Only 3 per cent of Malaysia's waste is recycled, officials have said. Singapore, by contrast, recycles 60 per cent of the 20,000 tonnes of solid waste produced daily, according to the Government.

Singapore has four incinerators - two in Tuas, one in Tuas South and another in Senoko - with total capacity of about 7,900 tonnes a day. Other waste is sent to a landfill on Semakau Island.

Malaysia has so far built, or is building, small incinerators on three islands - Pangkor, Langkawi and Labuan, while another is in remote Cameron Highlands.

But plans in 2003 to build a large incinerator in Puchong and later in Broga, both in Selangor, were scrapped due to public resistance.

Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan said the Jinjang incinerator will be opened for international tender, and built and maintained with international standards.

"The objection is largely emotional. I'm not saying it's unfounded, but we'll have open lines of communication to assure the public," he said last week.

In Jinjang, a non-governmental organisation is planning a protest march to Kuala Lumpur City Hall and Parliament next week, while others argue for more efforts to encourage Malaysians to recycle.

But to some residents, all these are moot.

"We can protest and argue but I think this project is coming here. I just hope the incinerator is safe for the sake of our health," said retiree Ahmad Abdul Samat, 65, who lives in a low-cost flat in Taman Beringin, close the proposed site.

reme@sph.com.sg

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