The Broga anti-incinerator residents stood firm on their objections against the controversial RM1.5 billion incinerator project after yesterday's disclosure by the government on details of the conditional approval for the project's environmental impact assessment (EIA) report.

"We are against the incinerator project, whatever conditions are not going to mitigate the problems of the incinerator," the Semenyih/ Broga No Incinerator pro tem action committee chairperson Prof P Ramasamy (photo left) said when contacted by malaysiakini this afternoon.

On the next course of action, he said the committee would initiate legal action to demand the government to scrap the mega project in Broga, near Semenyih.

The committee had filed a suit against the authorities last November - before the EIA was unveiled - to seek the court's assistance to order the authorities to divulge details about the mega project.

Residents in Broga and Semenyih have claimed that the incinerator operations will be hazardous to their health and environment. They also pointed out that the plant is situated within a gazetted water catchment area.

Six conditions

The Housing and Local Government Ministry yesterday divulged the details pertaining to the conditional approval.

The ministry's secretary general Lokman Hakim Mohd Jasan, in a three-page statement, outlined the six conditions on the project's implementation, including its design, construction and operation.

Among the conditions are that a 1.5km buffer zone around the incinerator will be created to ensure it is free of human habitation and that the chimneys must be at a minimum height of 150m.

The government will use the 'fluidised-bed type gasification and ash-melting technology' complete with the air pollution control and energy recovery systems at the plant.

On its construction, a written approval has to be obtained from the Department of Environment (DOE) before the commencement of construction and before the equipment is installed.

Sampling and analysis of important parameters on gas and particulate emitted from the chimneys such as dioxin and other heavy metals will be carried out to ensure the project adheres to the level of emission.

Apart from that, another condition also states that waste water will be treated to conform to the parameters under the Environment Quality Regulations (Waste Water and Industrial Effluents) 1979 before being released.

Lokman said these "strict" conditions prescribed by the DOE are to "prevent any negative impact on the environment and the residents following the project's implementation".

He said the ministry - the project's proponent - received the approval on May 31.

(Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting and DOE officials had earlier said that the approval was given on May 28.)

Implementation committees

The secretary general himself headed a steering committee on the incinerator project, which will establish policy matters pertaining to the project implementation.

The ministry has also set up another 'technical committee' which will observe technical aspects of the project's implementation.

"The ministry also plans to establish a monitoring committee once the construction of the incinerator was completed. The committee members will comprise those from the relevant government agency, residents' representatives and non-governmental organisations," Lokman said.

He added that the Finance Ministry and Economic Planning Unit will also be involved in the project's construction.

The controversy-ridden project continues to face resistance from local and international environmental activists and anti-incineration advocates who argue that the government should implement better alternatives for its waste management programme.

The government, meanwhile, is pushing for the 1,500-tonne plant to come online in 2007.

The incinerator was initially proposed to be located at Puchong, also in Selangor, but was later moved to sparsely populated Broga after intense opposition by Puchong residents.