Media barred from public hearing, RTI questions state govt's move

Summary

• Selangor state government bars media from attending a public hearing on the Selangor Draft Structure Plan 2035.

• State exco is said to have told attendees that the media ban is due to concerns of "manipulated" news coverage.

• A group against the proposed incinerator in Batu Arang, Rawang said the restriction is against press freedom and transparency.

The Rawang Tolak Insinerator Network (RTI) has questioned the Selangor state government’s decision to bar the media from attending a public hearing on the Selangor Draft Structure Plan 2035.

The group’s spokesperson Abdul Hanan Abd Mokti argued that journalists should be allowed to sit in for the hearing as the draft plan is a matter of public interest.

“(During the hearing), we’re planning to ask why the media was not allowed (to cover the proceedings),” Hanan told Malaysiakini before the hearing commenced at the Shah Alam Convention Centre today.

He said that while RTI and the government will be able to make comments following the conclusion of the event, the presence of the media at the hearing itself would ensure impartial and fair coverage.

“(RTI) will release our media statement after the event, but the state government will also issue a statement telling its side of the story,” he added.

Media ‘manipulation’ concerns

Speaking to reporters after the hearing concluded, Hanan said attendees had requested the media be allowed to enter the hall to cover the event.

However, housing and culture exco Burhan Ahmad Shah, who chaired the hearing today, informed them that the media was not invited to the session due to concerns of "manipulation".

"The press not being allowed to enter (the hearing) is totally against the principles of press freedom and transparency," Hanan added.

Independent researcher Wong Yuen Mei, who was present in support of RTI, highlighted that under Section 10 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976, the event is supposed to be a town hall-like session open to all of the public and the media.

"Unfortunately, (the state government) has titled the event today as a public hearing and inquiry committee meeting, thus making it a closed-door event where the press cannot come in and a limited number of attendees can speak," she added.

It is understood that only those with proof of an official invitation sent via e-mail were allowed in, including the public.

The media was similarly barred from attending a previous hearing on Feb 10, which was postponed to today after RTI raised conflict of interest concerns involving the state exco chairing the meeting.

At that time, RTI had requested that Ng Suee Lim recuse himself from the proceedings as the local government, new village development and tourism exco also chairs the board of directors for KDEB Waste Management Sdn Bhd, the project operator for the proposed RM4.5 billion incinerator.

Malaysiakini has reached out to Borhan for an official response on the restriction against media.

No to WTE plant in Rawang

In January, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said the proposal for the incinerator had yet to be finalised.

This is despite the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) last September approving the land-use change for the site.

RTI has consistently opposed plans to build an incinerator in Batu Arang, Rawang, claiming that the waste-to-energy (WTE) plant would present health, safety and environmental concerns.

It also asserted that Batu Arang is unsuitable for such a project as the incinerator would be sitting on former open-cast coal mines, which the group said makes the land unstable and poses a risk of collapse.

The group said there were also coal seams about 50km long under Batu Arang, and a WTE incinerator opens the possibility of fires or an explosion.

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