The Kuala Lumpur Anti-incinerator Movement (KTI) has raised a pertinent question - is there a link between the drastic increase in assessment taxes and quit rents in Kuala Lumpur and the construction of the controversial Taman Beringin incinerator?

In a statement today, KTI wanted to know whether the dramatic rise of taxes , which were up to 267 percent, was a way for the government to "steal" taxpayers' money in order to fund the incinerator despite strong protests from residents near Kepong, where the incinerator is set to be built. 

It also said that the Urban Well-Being, Housing and Local Government Ministry, which is spearheading the incinerator project, is going against its own guidelines set in 1997 that an incinerator must not be built within a 50km radius from main development areas.

NONE "Has the minister (Abdul Rahman Dahlan, left ) looked at the ministry's own guidelines before coming to this decision?" queried KTI, in response to Abdul Rahman's insistence that the project will go ahead and open tenders for the project will be called soon.

"Does the minister realise that there are some 1.8 million Malaysians living within a 20km radius of the incinerator, and that the national palace is only 8km away from the incinerator?" KTI further queried.

NONE It also demanded that Abdul Rahman disclose the Kepong residents that the ministry had allegedly met over the incinerator project and also state the feedback that it had received from these residents.

"The cost to operate a disposal facility is only RM75 a tonne, but the cost to operate an incinerator, which can only last between 10 to 12 years, is more than RM300 a tonne.

“What is the logic behind the cost effectiveness of having an incinerator when Malaysia has not fully implemented the 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) policy?" it asked.

No decision yet on new assessment tax proposal, says minister