Contradictory statements by government officials over the RM1.5 billion proposed plant has led to growing disenchantment among the 80,000 residents of Broga, Kajang, Semenyih, Beranang and surrounding areas.

Members of the Broga/Semenyih No Incinerator pro tem committee took journalists, NGO representatives and political party members on a four-hour trek yesterday to the proposed site to check out some of the claims being made.

The trail

To reach the proposed site some 400m above sea level, most of the group travelled by 4WD vehicles and motorcycles. The rest decided to walk up the steep and slippery terrain.

During the trek, an exasperated Broga resident was overheard saying: "Seeing is believing...how can we believe that work has not started when we know that trees are being cleared to make pathways for tractors and trucks?"

The lower part of the main trail was lined with fruit orchards ranging from durian trees to starfruit, lime and banana trees.

A small stream snaked through the orchards, its source a waterfall upstream. A resident described it as "a quiet but popular picnic spot".

Further up, a number of fresh laterite pathways broke away from the main trail. Then, several water drums and a soil-testing rig came into sight, followed by an earth mover at the edge of a muddy clearing.

The hilltop site, dotted by recently-planted banana trees, overlooks a valley where a huge lake is surrounded by fruit orchards, and villages, residential and commercial estates, and a large poultry farm.

Also visible from that vantage point were earthworks o­n large tracts of land, including that for the Semenyih Sunway housing project and Britain's Nottingham University campus in Malaysia.

No signboards

"There are many paths leading to the proposed site. There is another o­ne where a bridge strong enough to bear a 100-tonne truck was recently built," said N Segeren, a committee member.

"But until today, we haven't seen any signboards or notices announcing the type of work or project that is going o­n."

However, he said, local residents who had spoken to contractors and surveyors o­n site were told that the work was for the projek sampah (rubbish project)."

Sticks with red-painted tips and striped red plastic strips tied to shrubs were the o­nly kind of markers seen along the trail and around the site of the proposed project.

According to a fruit grower, who o­nly wanted to be identified as Lee, the Orang Asli were the first to know about the land clearing and had asked the site workers about it.

"They were told that the land was being cleared for them to plant banana trees, but we believe this is just to hoodwink the Orang Asli community into believing that it is for their benefit."

The government has refuted residents' claims that work o­n the incinerator site had commenced prior to the environmental impact assessment study, expected to be completed in May. It had claimed that o­nly preliminary work was in progress.

Clarification unavailable

When contacted today for comments o­n the work at the site, a Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) official said the authority had not been informed about the status of the incinerator project.

"As far as the MPKj is concerned, we fully co-operate with the ministry as this is their project which happens to fall within our area. I think it would be better if you ask the ministry for further details because they are know best what is happening," she said.

"But exactly what is it that's making these people unhappy with the project? How do they know that the land clearing and work going o­n there is for the incinerator project and not some other project?"

Attempts to get clarification from state government and ministry officials also proved futile, as they will not be in their offices until later this week.

pix by Claudia Theophilus/ malaysiakini