Tokyo-based Ebara Corporation has won the contract to build the controversial 1,500-tonne mega thermal incinerator proposed in Broga near Semenyih, 40km south of Kuala Lumpur.

In a press release dated Feb 7 issued in Japan, the company announced the Malaysian government's order to purchase 'gasification fusion furnace equipment' for the world's largest-capacity incinerator plant to dispose of city refuse.

Bidding process

In the statement posted o­n its website , the company said the Malaysian government selected it to build the incineration plant through an international bidding process and a o­ne-year technology assessment.

Ebara said its latest technology - 'fluidised-bed gasification fusion furnace - promotes zero emission. This reflects the company's main selling point of sustainable development and environmentally-friendly waste management.

The company claims that, with zero emission, there will be "no secondary pollution" and that the operations "will enhance the efficiency of material, thermal and chemical recycling".

The press release also mentioned Selangor as the site for the incinerator, confirming the state government's earlier announcement.

It named Kuala Lumpur-based engineering company, Hartasuma Sdn Bhd, as the leading partner in the project consortium. However, the value of the purchase order was not stated.

When contacted, the project team's leading consultant Toshio Yano of Yachiyo Engineering Co Ltd refused to confirm the matter, referring malaysiakini to the Housing and Local Government Ministry instead.

The ministry is the developer or lead agency for the Broga incinerator because municipal solid waste management falls under its jurisdiction.

No news here

Meanwhile, a Japanese anti-incinerator activist pointed out that the news of the purchase order has o­nly been reported in Japan and not in Malaysia.

Junichi Sato of Greenpeace Japan said he read of Ebara winning the bid in Malaysia in a Japanese newspaper.

"The government usually will not tell citizens about such things, which is why you may have not heard anything about it here," he told more than 200 local residents who attended a public forum in Kajang, Selangor o­n Saturday.

"However, as a public-listed company in Japan, Ebara is legally required to inform its shareholders of the project through the local media."

Setsuko Yamamoto, a researcher and author of two books o­n the hazards of incinerators, told forum participants that Ebara is known for exporting its incineration technology to Asian countries.

"It has o­ne of the worst operational records for incinerator plants in Japan, remaining silent o­n the disasters and accidents which have occurred over the years," she alleged.

Accusing the company of flaunting Japan's laws and risking public safety and health, Yamamoto claimed, for instance, that an explosion occurred 30 minutes into a trial run at o­ne of its incinerators.

Ebara, which has about 5,000 employees, recently won contracts in Taiwan and China to build incinerators in several municipalities. It also operates the incinerators.