The government has launched a probe into Ebara Corporation, the Japanese engineering giant hired to design and build a mega-incinerator in Broga, near Semenyih, about 40km south of Kuala Lumpur.

Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting said today he has asked for all relevant information from the Japanese government and other parties whom he declined to identify.

"We are trying to verify the truth in the allegations against Ebara as reported in the Japanese media and are now waiting for the facts and figures from Japan," he told malaysiakini when met in Kuala Lumpur.

The move follows an urgent request by a group of Broga residents opposed to the incinerator, led by a committee representing an estimated 80,000 people from 25 housing estates in and around Broga, Semenyih, Kajang and Beranang.

Ong also repeated the assurance that the residents' concerns are being addressed in the detailed environmental impact assessment (EIA) study of the site for the 1,500-tonne plant, touted as the world's largest to use Japan's latest gasification technology.

The EIA report, initially scheduled for completion in May by Perunding Utama Sdn Bhd, the government-appointed consultant, is now expected by the end of this month - the third postponement so far.

Once completed, the report would be submitted to the Department of Environment, which would seek public feedback before a technical evaluation by its panel of experts.

Poor track-record

The Semenyih/Broga No Incinerator pro tem action committee has been persistently opposed to the project, claiming that Ebara, a major player in the incinerator business in Japan, carries a bad track record as reported in the Japanese media.

According to the reports , major incinerators builders, including Ebara, are in dire financial straits and some were also implicated in corruption cases.

Ebara, which designs, builds and operates incinerators in Japan, was found responsible for contaminating a major river in Kanagawa Prefecture with record levels of dioxin due a faulty design in late 1990s. Operations have since been shelved .

Despite ongoing protests against, among others, the siting of the project in an environmentally-sensitive zone in Broga, the government has remained stoic and silent on the issue.

Whitewash fears

When asked, Ong said all protest letters and written requests addressed to him were passed on to the Local Government Department director-general Mohamed Saib to handle.

Meanwhile, Semenyih/Broga No Incinerator pro tem committee member Alice Lee said while the minister's undertaking of a probe into Ebara was welcomed, people still feared a whitewash.

"We hope the government does not cheat us or try to hoodwink us. They must check Ebara's financial background and overall track record properly.

"Don't just keep saying that the Broga plant is safe. At the end of the day, if we get cancer or leukemia, who is going to be responsible? Will the government take responsibility?" she asked when contacted.

"It would probably push the problem to the EIA consultant or some other agency, and at the end of the day, no one takes responsibility.

"They refuse to talk to us even while we are still healthy. Do you actually think they will come if and when we have cancer?" she added, citing similar occurrences in other issues.

Lee also criticised the ministry for ignoring repeated requests, both verbal and written, for a dialogue, but Ong believes that such a dialogue would pre-empt the EIA assessment.

She also questioned the government's adamance in pushing for the incinerator despite the allegations against the proposed technology and risks to public health and the environment.

"If the government likes the project so much and thinks that the plant is very safe, then please go to Putrajaya because we don't want to risk our lives, health and our future.

"This is a very dangerous project. Please don't force us to accept it because we don't want it,

especially not after learning about dioxin and industrial accidents at the latest incinerator plants in advanced countries like Japan and in Europe," she said.

Opposition party DAP has also asked the government to scrap the deal.