YTL Corp said it has no plans to move or stop operating its eight-year-old cement plant in Sentul despite rising protests from residents after an accident in the area which killed a young mother.

The company said that it is a victim of opposition politics as despite allegations from Batu MP Tian Chua, it has all the proper permits to operate the plant, which is located near five primary and secondary schools, a market and residential areas.

“They are trying to make it out to be a David vs Goliath fight but it’s not like that at all,” said Mohd Said Bani, a spokesperson for Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd (SRSB), the YTL developer company for the area.

“We have been operating there for so long, why are they raising the issue only now?”

NONEHe was responding to Tian Chua (right) who yesterday alleged that lorries ferrying cement and moving in and out of Sentul have become a danger for local residents. It was reported that Siti Rohani Mohamad Saadi died when the motorcycle she was on collided with a cement lorry in the area a fortnight ago. The 30-year-old mother was on the way to fetch her daughter from school.

“There is a death involved and the police are investigating... so let the police do their work and we will respond accordingly, I promise you,” Mohd Said said, adding that the company was saddened over the woman’s death.

Tian Chua also urged the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health to relocate the plant as he claims “it pumps out small particles that pollute the lungs when breathed in”.

“The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry conducts pollution studies nationwide... has this cement plant been taken into consideration regarding the pollution in Kuala Lumpur? Are they even aware of such a set-up in Sentul?” Tian Chua asked in a press statement.

YTL’s Mohd Said said this was an unsubstantiated claim.

He said that processes and procedures of the cement plant, which has been around since 2005, were in accordance with KL City Hall (DBKL) and Department of Environment (DOE) requirements. “This is reviewed from time to time and we have addressed problems and issues, if they are any at all that have been raised,” Mohd Said said.

Tian Chua also alleged that there were excessive lorry movements as the cement plant supplied material to all projects by YTL and not just within the Sentul area.

‘No restriction on supplying cement only to Sentul’

Mohd Said did not deny or confirm this but said that the lorries have always moved according to a fixed schedule.  He said that there has never been a restriction placed on the plant for supplying cement only to Sentul.

Tian Chua had previously helped Kampung Railway residents fight for compensation from SRSB, which was evicting them from their squatter homes to make way for new development.

The case dragged on for years even after the Kuala Lumpur High Court decided in YTL’s favour and ordered the residents to vacate the land as they were unable to prove that they had permission to occupy the area. YTL and the Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Ministry had promised the residents low-cost apartments as compensation.

The two issues may be related.

“Failing to accommodate the interests of these residents can simply result in further delay of future development in the area,” Tian Chua had said.