We at the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) are shocked and distressed by the recent advertising blitz by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government hailing incineration as "quick", "clean" and "safe" solution to managing discards.

Rather than dialogue with Broga residents and take action, the Ministry opted to come out with expensive ads resonating claims made by incinerator vendors - at taxpayers' expense.

In a study commissioned by GAIA and released on July 14, 2003, the global NGO coalition established that incineration is an outmoded system for dealing with waste that has no place in a sustainable future. Incinerators contaminate ecosystems, including our bodies and food supply, with toxic pollutants such as cancer-causing dioxins and furans.

They churn out toxic ash which requires special handling and perpetuates the need for landfills.

Incinerators are also bad for the economy. They drain money out of local communities and create fewer and often dangerous jobs.

Incineration has an even more sinister side. It is incompatible with sustainable approaches to waste management. Incinerators weaken efforts towards waste prevention, reduction and recycling because burners need a constant supply of trash to keep on running.

Investing in a destructive technology like incineration is akin to spending public funds to destroy much needed resources and converting the same into toxic ash and persistent pollutants which threaten the well-being of people and the environment.

We therefore urge the Government of Malaysia to reconsider plans to construct incinerators in Broga and elsewhere. Now more than ever, developing countries should avoid repeating the mistakes of the West.

In the area of waste management and disposal, the future would be defined by innovative philosophies and sustainable practices for preventing waste and recovering valuable discards.

This is the trend we are witnessing in more and more places as demonstrated by the continuing success of recycling in New Zealand, Canberra in Australia, and Nova Scotia in Canada.

Instead of bamboozling the public with misleading advertisements promoting incineration, we call on the Malaysian government to engage community residents in constructive dialogue and consider safer, proven and more productive alternatives to deal with the problem of waste.