Residents opposing the proposed incinerator project in Broga, Selangor claim that the "vested interests" of certain quarters were behind the government's insistence on building the controversial plant.

Semenyih/Broga No Incinerator pro-tem committee chairperson Prof P Ramasamy said such a mammoth initiative "only benefits a few and will continue to benefit a few".

He also said that outsourcing municipal services such as waste disposal/management was the worst form of privatisation.

"The press should do some investigative reporting and find out where the money (for the mega-incinerator) is coming from, since the Japan government have denied any involvement," he said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

"The people also want to know who's money is being used to sponsor visits to incinerator plants in Japan as well as for the recent advertisement campaign?"

"We will continue to oppose the project until the end. We have many silent supporters and we are confident of getting the numbers," he added.

Earlier the residents submitted a written complaint to Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting on the series of pro-incinerator advertisements which appeared in local dailies.

The full-page black-and-white and colour ads touted the incinerator as safe and essential to handle the garbage woes.

Legal action

The committee also agreed in principle to sue the government for violating several laws and procedures.

Ramasamy, a resident of Taman Tasik Semenyih, said the committee was talking to several lawyers about taking up a public interest litigation case. "We will meet on Friday to finalise the details," he added.

"We are also planning more public gatherings to explain about the hazards of incinerators. In fact, none of our police reports, complaint letters or memorandums have elicited any response from the relevant parties," he said.

The committee had submitted their memorandum to various agencies, groups and individuals, including government and opposition parliamentarians, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) and the local elected representatives, but their efforts have proved futile.

'Join forces'

Committee member N Segeran said they were also linking-up with other groups fighting a similar struggle in Malacca, Perak and Penang.

"It is important for all those with a common cause to join forces in order to achieve their goals and to educate the public that there are better alternatives for garbage disposal than incinerators," he added.

He said the signature campaign was also underway. The first batch of 10,000 signatures was submitted to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in early April, when he was Acting Prime Minister, together with a memorandum detailing the grounds for opposing the incinerator.

Segeran said it was also wrong for Ong's ministry to run an ad campaign which could influence the Science, Technology and Environment Ministry, in particular the Department of Environment (DOE), into approving the environmental impact assessment report (EIA).

"In the US, for example, no incinerators had been built in the last six years. Countries like Australia, the Philippines and New Zealand are also phasing out incinerators.

"In fact, incinerators are now considered as 'pariahs' in the international community," he added.

Suhakam's role

When contacted today, Suhakam secretary Kamaruddin Mohamed Baria said the commission was closely monitoring the development of the issue.

"We are waiting for the EIA report to be released before deciding on the next action."

On whether another dialogue was being planned, this time to include the relevant government officials who were absent in the previous two meetings, he said it would be unfair to do so now as the EIA report was still being prepared.

Early this year, Suhakam arranged for a dialogue with government officials. Only officials from the Selangor government and DOE were present. There was no one from Ong's ministry, which is the project implementor.

Suhakam called for another session in April but this time, no officials turned up at all, thanks to a directive from the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The ministry handles Suhakam affairs, including channeling funds from government coffers.