Alice Lee was declared by the Shah Alam High Court late yesterday as the legitimate representative of Kampung Broga residents in a suit to stop a RM1.5 billion mammoth incinerator project nearby.

The Attorney-General's Chambers and the Selangor state legal advisor had contended that she did not have any legal standing in the main suit filed on Nov 8, 2003, seeking a court declaration for full disclosure of the project details which has so far remained opaque.

Justice Suriadi Halim Omar, in granting the order in terms, offered a polite yet firm rebuke of both government lawyers present for failing to reply the plaintiff's affidavits.

"As far as today's matter is concerned, I follow the law and not based on my own whims and fancy. I have to grant the order in terms. I'm going to give the order because you didn't reply," he said to a courtroom packed with Broga villagers.

Special Branch personnel also sat in court throughout the day although the Broga matter was only heard for 40 minutes until 5.10pm.

State legal advisor Badariah Hassan and senior federal counsel Suzana Atan appeared for Selangor Land and Minerals Department director and the Science, Technology and Environment Ministry director-general respectively.

Earlier, the residents' lawyer T Uma Parvathy said both parties have yet to respond to the plaintiff's affidavit which was filed seven months ago.

This kept Suriadi on their backs asking for reasons why they had not bothered to reply.

"Why reply some (affidavits) and not the rest? Why didn't you reply? You must be all-enveloping in your response to the affidavits.

Chose to ignore

Badariah replied that they didn't want to reply because they were waiting for the outcome of an appeal both had filed that morning against the deputy registrar's decision on March 24 to dismiss an earlier application to strike out the main suit.

"But you lost. If there was no case, the matter would have been struck off," said Suriadi.

"An appeal does not act as a stay, the law is very clear on this."

He chided them for ignoring the affidavits.

"You have to reply all the affidavits, you have to act. You can't just sit there and do nothing. You can't ignore the plaintiff's affidavits. What is strange here is that both of you decided not to act."

At this juncture, Suzana argued that additional supporting documents to prove Lee's legal standing were only filed "as an afterthought to circumvent our appeal".

Suriadi: Yes, we all see this. We're all professionals here. Now, we're hearing by affidavit and you have failed to reply, and this could be deemed as an admission.

Suzana: We cannot reply because we're not a legal entity.

Suriadi: No, you can't say that. Why didn't you react to it (affidavits). You must be sensitive to every application. You must understand (this), you are a professional.

Before standing down the Broga case earlier in the day, the judge had remarked that he may not appear stern or angry but that did not mean he will not show his dissatisfaction or anger.

Approached later, Suzana said they chose not to reply because it was a tactic by the plaintiff to circumvent their appeal.

Zarina Begum held a watching brief for the Bar Council.

Controversy-ridden

The federal government project for a 1,500-tonne capacity plant has drawn international criticism from zero waste management lobbyists and anti-incinerator scientists who cite potential hazards of toxic emissions, and economic and environmental problems.

On Feb 14 last year, Broga residents won temporary reprieve when the court granted an interim stay order on all project work pending the disposal of a main suit.

However, the interim stay did nothing to stop the Selangor government from acquiring land from 52 Broga residents to build access roads and as part of the incinerator plant's perimeter compound.

The government's lack of transparency in this case has prompted numerous local protests.

The plant, first proposed in 1997, is touted as the biggest of its kind in the world using Japan's fluidised-bed gasification and ash-melting technology.

Residents surrounding Broga and in Semenyih have maintained over the last four years insisted that the plan sits in a water catchment area where a dam is located, their strongest ground yet.

A global movement is also underway to replace incinerator technology with green solutions such as recycling and zero waste management which has a proven record in many rich and poor countries.

In late March 2003, malaysiakini exclusively reported that Japanese engineering giant Ebara Corp had won the multi-billion ringgit job the previous month to design, build and commission the plant.

In another exclusive, malaysiakini reported that it was in trouble with the Malaysian government for allegedly failing to fulfill its contractual obligations by not detailing its technology transfer plan.

Despite reported problems between the contractor and the project proponent, the Housing and Local Government Ministry, the status of the project is unclear because government officials including minister Ong Ka Ting remain persistently evasive when approached for comments.

Hearing of an application for a fresh stay order pending disposal of the main suit will continue on July 11.