BROGA Issue Again

Want clean rivers? Scrap Broga incinerator!
Andrew OngApr 22, 06 12:07pm

As the government hints at the closure of open dumpsites nationwide to protect rivers from pollution, the proposed waste incinerator in Kampung Broga, Semenyih must also be scrapped as well.
Stating this, Broga No-incinerator committee pro tem chairperson Zulkefly Mohamad Omar added that the government should be far sighted and scrap the project to avoid future mishaps.
“Ammonia in the water can be easily detected. But (cancer causing) dioxins (emmited from waste incinerators and dissolved in water) cannot be seen nor does it have taste, and it is even more dangerous,” he told reporters after submitting a memorandum on the matter to the Department of Environment (DOE) in Putrajaya yesterday.
This was the latest move by the committee who have been struggling over the past three years to stop the project.
Two rivers - Sungai Rinching and Sungai Seringgit - are within close vicinity of the proposed site. Both rivers flow towards Sungai Semenyih, a water catchment area which supplies water to about two million people in the Klang Valley.
Cabinet committee
Zulkefly urged the authorities to heed of the recent incident where leachate from a landfill near Sungai Kembong had caused ammonia levels to rise in the Sungai Semenyih, forcing water supply disruption to a large area of the Klang Valley.
“Instead of spending money to clean up rivers, the government can save money by not building incinerators, otherwise they have to spend again to clean the rivers later,” he added.
He hoped that the DOE would relate the committee’s concerns to the cabinet committee on environment and disasters chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, which will meet on April 28.
Among matters expected to be deliberated is a proposal to close all open dumpsites by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Azmi Khalid and the fate of the Broga incinerator.
On the possibility of the government establishing a Refuse-derived Fuel (RDF) plant within Semenyih as an alternative to the controversial incinerator, Zulkefly said that the committee can accept it, if it was a ‘temporary’ solution.
“But that doesn’t mean everyone can dump their garbage in Broga. Every council should have their own RDF facility,” he said.
Green light given?
Earlier, the committee members and about 20 residents of Kampung Broga turned up for a meeting with DOE deputy director-general Dr Shamsuddin Abd Latif.
Shamsuddin was met with a barrage of questions from anxious residents, mostly concerning more details to the addendum of the Environmental Impact Assessment of the project, published late last year.
“Who has the final say in approving the EIA? The DOE or the politicians?” asked Alice Lee (right), a resident and ardent critic of the project.
Shamsuddin avoided Lee’s questions and those from other residents, repeatedly saying that he would pass on their concerns and issues raised in the memorandum to his superior.
However, when asked if the ‘green light’ has been given to the EIA, Shamsuddin said, “That would be a question of interpretation. For now, EIA has not been finalised”.
Toxic waste
The project, said to be the biggest of its kind in the region, is capable of processing more than 1000 tonnes of municipal waste daily, but according to the addendum to the EIA, produces 400 tonnes of toxic slag daily as well.
The addendum makes no reference to how the slag would be brought out of the incinerator, nor where it would be disposed off.
According to Zulkefly, this may potentially expose nearby residents to the toxic waste.
“What happens if the transport used to carry the toxic materials meet an accident in a busy street?” he asked Shamsuddin, to which the latter did not answer.
He added that water pumped from nearby rivers to wash the interior of the incinerator would flow back into the water system, bringing along toxic ash and other poisonous materials.