A senior official from Japan's Ebara Corp has refused to provide further details o­n the government contract to build a mammoth incinerator in Broga, Selangor - the largest of its kind in the world.

"We have agreed to abide by the secrecy requirement in the contract and are unable to describe these terms," said Kawata Maruyama of Ebara's international business division.

However, Kawata said that "the terms and conditions are equivalent to other Malaysian national projects".

Green light

In a faxed response today from the company's headquarters in Tokyo, Kawata said Ebara was waiting for the green light from the Malaysian government before starting work o­n the incinerator.

"We are waiting for the approval of EIA and are not allowed to proceed with any design work in our offices, or any construction work at site until we receive official instruction to do so from the government of Malaysia," he told malaysiakini .

Kawata said Ebara was given a " conditional letter of award " in February.

"(The) contract agreement will be signed o­nly after completion of (the) EIA and approval thereof."

Kawata also said that since Ebara was not involved in the project's financing, he was unable to reveal more details o­n the matter.

"Please note again that we have nothing to do with the loan."

While the government has insisted that it had obtained a low-interest loan from Tokyo, the Japanese embassy in Kuala Lumpur has however denied any involvement in the RM1.5 billion project.

The Broga project remains a controversy from the time it was proposed in Kampung Bohol, Puchong, and later relocated late last November following massive public outcry.

Broga residents, through a pro-tem action committee claiming to represent 400,000 people in adjacent Kajang, Beranang and Semenyih, are now raising a stink over the project.

The group, opposed to incinerators anywhere in the country, claim the technology is not o­nly hazardous to public safety and health, but also falls foul of existing laws and policies.

International tender

Meanwhile, a Feb 27 media release in the Ebara's Zurich branch website said that the company had a purchase order from the Malaysian government for the "world's largest waste gasification system".

It stated that Japan's fluidised-bed gasification and ash-melting system - specified for the Broga plant - is known in Europe as TwinRec.

"For Kuala Lumpur city, it has been evaluating waste treatment technologies to substitute for current landfill disposal, based o­n the national policy to introduce an environmentally-friendly state-of-the-art technology," it said

"The government called for an international tender, followed by a o­ne-year technical evaluation, to decide the contractor."

In March, malaysiakini published an exclusive report revealing that Ebara had won the bid to build the incinerator.

Over the last few months, Broga pro-tem action committee has repeatedly tried to have a dialogue with the government but were instead accused of being outsiders bent o­n instigating the locals.

The committee has also presented their objections to both government and opposition members of parliament, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, the Selangor government as well as Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.