PM
MAHATHIR URGED TO SCRAP BROGA INCINERATOR,
BACK SUSTAINABLE DISCARD MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Communities Opposed to the Project Get International
Support
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Manila,
Philippines/ Kuala Lumpur and Penang, Malaysia/
Bali, Indonesia/ Tokyo, Japan/ Bangkok, Thailand,
1 October 2003. Civil society representatives
from across Asia and the world today urged the
Prime Minister of Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir
Mohamad to cancel the controversial mega-incinerator
project in Broga, Selangor. In an Open Letter
signed by over 230 NGOs and individuals from
39 countries, Dr. Mahathir was exhorted not
to close his eyes to the many scientific studies
linking incineration to ill health and environmental
destruction and pay attention to what the Rakyat
(the local term for "people") are
saying.
Reacting
to his censure of local anti-incinerator groups,
they asked Prime Minister, who is a medical
doctor, these questions: "Do you mean to
say that it is tolerable for the Rakyat to suffer
from a health-threatening and wasteful disposal
method since Malaysia is "still a developing
country"? That the Rakyat, at this stage
of national development, do not deserve to enjoy
the benefits of clean, healthy and sustainable
alternatives to incineration? That the cancers
and other diseases being suffered by communities
hosting incinerators in developed countries
are acceptable to Your Excellency?" |
Community members protest
incinerator project in Broga, Malaysia
Photo courtesy of Malayasiakini.com
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"It
is unfortunate that the Malaysian government
is favoring a costly and deadly technological
non-solution for its waste problems instead
of adopting proven, safe and sustainable
discard management systems. By pushing
this incinerator, the government is guilty
of imposing a mistake of Western industrialization
on the people of Broga. This is truly
regrettable considering that the developing
world has often looked up to Malaysia
and the Prime Minister for leadership
on environmental issues," according
to Von Hernandez, Co-Coordinator, Global
Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
(GAIA), a coalition of more than 380 public
interest groups and individuals from 67
countries working to phase out all forms
of waste incineration and to promote clean
production, zero waste and environmental
justice. |
The 1,500-tonne incinerator using fluidized
bed gasification technology, purportedly
the largest of this type in Asia, will
cost 1.5 billion ringgit (about US$395
million) to build and 200 million ringgit
(about US$53 million) to operate per year.
Residents
of Broga and adjacent communities and
public interest groups have asked the
government to cancel the project, citing
critical public health, environmental,
socio-economic and financial risks. The
project environmental impact assessment
(EIA) is pending approval from the Department
of Environment.
Affected
residents are disappointed and distressed
with the blatant refusal of the authorities
to discuss and dialogue with the Broga/Semenyih
No Incinerator Protem Committee (www.no-incinerators.com),
which represents community members from
25 housing estates and several villages
in Broga and surrounding areas. "Residents
feel that the government is going for
a solution that is not sustainable, is
outmoded (as more and more countries are
moving away from it), is not economically
justified but rather will become an economic
burden for residents and most importantly
will pose critical health hazards in the
form of increased risk of cancers, infertility,
birth deformities and abnormal child development,"
reported Prof. Ramasamy, Chairman of the
Committee. |
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"We
cannot understand why the authorities
are insisting on going ahead with this
discredited solution of incinerating municipal
waste when other sustainable alternatives
have not been seriously implemented. It
is very frightening that the authorities
are experimenting with the world's
largest gasification plant in Malaysia,
which is only in the pilot stage in Japan,"
added Prof. Ramasamy.
The
costly project, stipulated to be designed
and built by Ebara Corporation and financed
through a yen loan package, has drawn
criticism from Japan itself, the most
incinerator intensive country on earth.
Noted Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Toxics
Campaigner: "Putting so much money
for incinerators to pollute the environment
and destroy the resources is not simply
the way to solve the waste problems. It
only creates other grave life-threatening
problems, which Japanese incinerator companies
don't have the solution yet."
S.
M. Mohamed Idris, President, Consumers'
Association of Penang, commented that,
"Building an incinerator in Broga
or anywhere else offers no lasting solution
to our |
Government -sponsored
Advertisement supporting the Broga Incinerator
Photo courtesy of Malaysiakini.com
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waste problems. What the country needs
is a holistic, community-driven approach
that focuses on waste prevention, reduction,
segregation at source, recycling and composting.
With the active participation of the Rakyat,
the government and the industry, we can
put a stop to wasting, conserve our resources
and safeguard public health."
The
groups called upon the Government of Malaysia
to abide by the goals of the Stockholm
Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POPs), which it has signed on 16 May
2002 and implement alternative non-burn
technologies that will not result to the
formation of new POPs, particularly dioxins
and furans, which are toxic by-products
of waste incineration. The Convention
seeks to rid the global environment of
12 cancer-causing pollutants (four of
which are linked to incinerators).
To
read the Open Letter and the list of endorsers,
please visit the GAIA website at www.no-burn.org
For more information, please contact the
Broga/Semenyih No Incinerator Protem Action
Committee (Prof. Ramasamy, 012 3804022,
Mr. Segeran 012 2777217, Mrs Tan 019 3667409),
the Consumers' Association of Penang (Mageswari
Sangaralingam, +604-8299511) or the GAIA
Secretariat (manny.gaia@no-burn.org,
+632-9290376 phone, +632-4364733 fax).
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