The steely determination of a group of residents opposed to a multi-billion ringgit incinerator project proposed in Broga, near Semenyih, is the stuff of movies.

They have consistently been sending letters to Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting (left) asking him to arrange for a dialogue. Their numerous requests have been ignored.

In a letter dated Oct 31 sent to Ong for the eighth time, residents group leader Alice Lee (right) hoped that the number '8' would prove lucky in getting any kind of response from the government.

"For us Chinese, this number is considered a good and lucky number, and so we hope that at least this time the minister would respond to our request for a dialogue," she said in the letter attached with 44 signatures. A copy was obtained by malaysiakini.

Fallen on deaf ears

Lee said their peace of mind was lost last November when the proposed project to build a 1,500-tonne thermal solid waste treatment plant was relocated to Broga from Kampung Bohol in Puchong, Kuala Lumpur following local mass protests.

"We have repeatedly pleaded to the government, including the local MCA and Ong himself, to reconsider the siting of the project in our midst which would turn our village into a 'rubbish town'.

"We hoped that the project implementors, including Ong, would care about us but our plight has fallen on deaf ears. Instead of listening to our grievances, the government has busied itself trying to convince us of the incinerator's advanced technology and thus, safety."

She said the simple-minded villagers in Broga, a sleepy-hollow straddling the border of Negeri Sembilan and Selangor, have waited for 11 months without any positive development.

"After endless disappointments, we finally realised that we are among citizens who are small, weak and helpless. We are at a stage similar to a drowning man clutching at a straw. We are forced to ask for help from anyone willing to help us.

"This includes local and international non-governmental organisations, even those which we had distanced ourselves from previously, as we reached a dead-end."

Lee said the Broga people wanted Ong, who is also MCA president, to withdraw the incinerator proposal as they would "never agree with the official arguments about the plant's safety and technology".

Project criticised

The project, which environmental impact assessment is being evaluated by the Department of Environment (DOE), has been criticised by international scientists for using outdated technology when most advanced countries are adopting alternative waste disposal methods.

European and American scientists claim that recent findings show a clear and direct link between incinerator's most toxic emission - cancer-causing dioxin - and severe health and reproductive problems among infants and young children.

Tokyo-based Ebara Corporation, the Japanese engineering giant contracted to design and build the mega-incinerator by 2007, is allegedly involved in numerous shady deals and dodgy claims about its zero emission technology, including a string of reported financial scandals.

Ebara has refused to comment on the allegations, placing the burden of a response on the Malaysian government.

But the government has also chosen to remain mum on the subject despite announcing the launch of a probe into the allegations spanning over a few years and mostly reported in Japan's media.