Some 300 people from Selayang staged a protest in front of Kuala Lumpur City Hall's headquarters this morning, objecting to a poultry abattoir project in their area.

The protesters, including two Members of Parliament, called for DBKL and the federal government to relocate the abattoir, saying that its proposed location beside the Selayang market was unsuitable and would pose a health risk to residents around the area.

Abdul Aziz Mohd Alias, secretary of the coalition of 62 NGOs that staged the protest, said they were disappointed that the project was continuing despite multiple objections from them.

The group was led by Aziz and included two MPs - William Leong Jee Keen (Selayang) and Lim Lip Eng (Kepong) who want the new Pakatan Harapan administration to review the project over health concerns.

Lim also called for MACC to investigate the project following allegations that it was connected to the son of a ministry's secretary-general.

Aziz said they were not against the project but just wanted it relocated.

"We are not against the setting up of a chicken slaughterhouse but we want the project to be relocated as the (proposed) site is too close to residential areas.

"The law said that such a facility must have a buffer zone of at least 500 metres from the nearest residential area. But this location is much closer than that.

"Besides, Selayang is already densely populated and the traffic jams are already bad [...] what would happen when lorries carrying the poultry start flooding into the area? We are also worried about the risk of a bird flu outbreak which will definitely affect the residents," he said when met during the protest.

Aziz (below) said the coalition of NGOs which include residents' associations from Selayang, had been objecting against the abattoir's location since 2015 but to no avail.

He said they had also taken legal action and were awaiting a decision by the appellate court but became worried when they saw groundworks being carried out at the site recently.

Leong told reporters that he supported the protest and called for Federal Territories minister and the new city mayor to review the plan.

"The strongest reason is the health concern because the site is too close to residential areas.

"According to existing guidelines, there must be a buffer zone of 500 metres but this abattoir site is only separated from the nearest house by a road which is only about 30 feet (about 9m).

"This is not according to the law and will not guarantee the residents' health safety. And as we know, setting up a poultry abattoir also comes with the risk of bird flu.

"Before this, we had the H1N1 (a subtype of influenza A virus) outbreak, then the H5N1 and today it has come to the H7N1. This puts the rakyat in a dangerous situation," he said, adding that he would bring the issue to Parliament if today's protest was ignored.

Memorandum delivered

Leong said he believed the Federal Territories Ministry and DBKL could sit down with the new government to find a better location together with the Selangor government.

Meanwhile, Lim said he had told those protesting to find more evidence of possible corruption with the project.

"I was informed that this project was linked to the son of a ministry's secretary-general and that this group had lodged reports with MACC twice but there was no action.

"So I have told them to gather more evidence and hand it over to MACC, the new mayor and the minister so that they can investigate if there is an element of corruption in this project," he said.

The group led by Aziz and the two MPs also delivered a memorandum on the matter to DBKL's Economy and Development Planning director Azmi Abdul Hamid.

Malaysiakini has contacted MACC and DBKL for comments.