Government leaders were instructed to keep mum on the controversy surrounding the proposal to build an incinerator plant in Puchong, revealed a Barisan Nasional member of Parliament today.

When asked about the directive, Serdang MP Yap Pian Hon said he learned about it from those who attended meetings with Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting.

"I did not attend the meetings, nor do I attend MCA meetings anymore but somebody who did, told me about the matter," he said when contacted, in his service centre in Serdang today.

His constituency is among those directly affected by the project.

However, the MCA central committee member said he has defied the gag order by raising the matter in parliament and issuing statements to the residents' action group.

Yap is linked to MCA's rival faction, known as Team B, which is headed by the party's deputy president Lim Ah Lek. Whereas, Ong is part of president Dr Ling Liong Sik's Team A.

Media coverage

The MP was also disappointed that the media, apart from a few, has ceased covering the matter. He attributed this to MCA's control of newspapers such as The Star and Chinese dailies Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press .

MCA's purchase of the two Chinese newspapers last May was the catalyst behind the party's split.

When met recently, Ong said he was trying "his best to help the residents" but refused to divulge more on the grounds that his plans "may be pre-empted by someone else" if announced too soon.

Asked when exactly he planned to respond, the MCA vice-president said: "I will decide when to do it. Talk to me some other day...and don't worry, I will let you know when I decide."

When told that residents were upset with the government's silence, he said: "I've been meeting with these residents and I know who these people are. I cannot say anything now because I am trying to help them."

Meanwhile, Yap praised the residents' action group and said "they have done very well" in raising the awareness of citizens regarding the dangers of incinerators in one's backyard.

"This is not an easy problem to solve, there is no guarantee that we can solve it but we are doing what we can.

"We are trying to meet the prime minister and also have more dialogues to see if we can relocate the plant," he said.

Despite the meetings with residents and assurances from government officials that the plant will be safe, Yap said people were not convinced by the explanations given thus far.

"Even I am not convinced, how do you expect the people to be convinced?" he asked.

RM1.4 billion project

In January last year, the Cabinet approved the construction of the incinerator at Kampung Bohol, which will cost RM1.4 billion to construct and RM50 million to maintain yearly.

Several resident committees voiced their outrage over the plant and had threatened to express their protests through the ballot box as BN controls five of the six parliamentary seats in the vicinity of the project, with Serdang and Lembah Pantai being the worst affected.

The committees have also collected about 135,000 signatures which will be submitted to the government soon.

DAP member of parliament for Seputeh Teresa Kok , whose constituency is also affected, has been diligently campaigning against the project.

The Environmental Impact Assessment report says about 260,000 people live within a 5km radius of the plant. The majority are in Bukit Indah (216,400), Bukit Jalil (12,150), Kinrara (34,270) and areas within the Subang Jaya municipality.