Wednesday, August 16, 2006

The Ministry of Housing and Local Governments shall come clear of whether the RM1.5 billion-Broga Incinerator project is scrapped or not

There is an urgent need for the Ministry of Housing and Local Governments to come clear of whether the RM1.5 billion-Broga Incinerator Project is scrapped or not so that the people of Broga do not have to live in uncertainties.

DAP Selangor would like to reiterate our stand that any incinerator can only be built in remote area which is far from water retention area in order to avoid environmental pollution which endanger the health of the residents (by-production of dioxine from incinerator is carsinogenic) as well as contaminating portable water.

This is also the reason why DAP Selangor stage a strong protest against the construction of similar incinerator in Kampung Bohol, Puchong when the project was first poposed to be built in that area before it was relocated to Broga, Semenyih which was also heavily protested by the residents of Broga.

The main question is that to date, there is no proper and official reply from the Ministry to verify the report published in Singapore’s Business Times, whether the project will be continued or scrapped.


The residents will definitely have every reason to celebrate if the project was scrapped while contractor of the incinerator, Ebara Corporation will file their compensation suit against the government to seek for a compensation of RM500 million. If the Government continues with the project, strong and undivided protest from the residents is expected. Three vital questions are to be answered:

1. Why the Ministry of Housing and Local Governments did not clear the air at the first place when the news was published in Singapore Business Times? To date, what is the progress of the project?

2. Whether the Government will source from the public coffer to compensate RM500 million to Ebara Corporation? Will the Government announce the content of the contract or LOA issued to the contractor? Are there any other ways to reduce the compensation?

3. For such an important news affecting the lives of those living in Broga, is it not ridiculous for the people to know about it from a foreign media? Is there any gag order issued to the media of not to highlight the issue? Or is it intentionally arranged by the government so that local media is sealed from the news?

All these queries concern the transparency, integrity and efficiency of the running of government machineries. We cannot agree more with the Government when the Government chooses to silent itself from giving public clearance or verification on various environmental issue, including another waste transfer station proposed to be built in Kampung Bohol, Puchong. It is clear that the people are waiting for confirmation from the Government. There shall be no delay in it.

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