DAP, citing information obtained from Japanese press reports, has alleged that major Japanese incinerator builders are doing badly in both sales volumes and total amount of orders based on last year's figures and this year's estimates.

Quoting a report in the Industrial News daily dated May 3, national publicity secretary Ronnie Liu said Ebara Corp's sales volume was down by 22% last year and is expected to drop by another 15% to 130 billion yen next year.

Ebara Corp is one of Japan's biggest engineering companies. It has reportedly been hired to design and build the proposed incinerator in Broga, near Semenyih. This will be the first of its kind to use gasification as the latest zero emission technology.

Responding to malaysiakini questions sent earlier, however, Ebara denied that it is in financial difficulty.

In a statement, Liu said the Industrial News report claimed that Ebara has been awarded the Broga contact and that "the company is already counting the profits".

The proposed 1,500-tonne plant is the first of similar proposals for the northern and southern region in Peninsular Malaysia.

Although the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report is due to be completed by the end of this month, the government has maintained a stony silence on details of funding.

Compensation claims

Liu also alleged that many incinerator operators (in Japan) have been slapped with summonses for causing damage to the environment.

"Many farmers and fishermen have claimed compensation from the authorities following the adverse effects of dioxin and toxic gas emissions to their health and livelihood," he said.

"Malaysians cannot afford incinerators for both safety and cost reasons. We do not need incinerators, and neither do we need a contractor who is in deep trouble building such plants for us."

Ebara is allegedly in legal trouble following a discovery in 2000 that one of its plants had discharged effluents containing record levels of dioxin and other toxic materials into the Hikichi river for seven years.

Samples taken from the stream that feeds directly into the river revealed dioxin levels more than 8,000 times the permitted level set by Japan's latest national environmental law.

Malaysiakini has submitted queries on this to the provincial government of Kanagawa Prefecture where the incident occurred, but it has not responded to date.

There has been no response either to similar queries sent early this month to Japan's Ministry of Environment and Ebara Corp's Zurich branch.

Public pressure

Meanwhile, Liu noted that there is an increasing trend of public pressure to reduce dependency on - and to close existing - incinerator plants in countries with these waste disposal facilities.

This is being seen in Japan, Britain, the US, Belgium, Denmark, South Africa and Mexico, with complaints being mainly based on problems associated with dioxin emissions and high maintenance costs.

Japan has the highest number of plants in the world with more than 6,000 municipal solid waste, industrial waste and a number of sludge and small-sized household incinerators built over the last few decades.

Apart from Ebara, other incinerator builders in Japan include Mitsui, Hitachi, Kubota, Kawasaki, Sumitomo and Takuma.

"If Japan is saying 'No' to incinerators, why should Malaysia say 'Yes"? In realising the disastrous consequences of incinerators, people all over the world are now putting up great resistance to any new proposals," Liu claimed.

Quoting a May 29 report last year in the Asahi Shimbun, he also said the Japan government has instituted stricter dismantling guidelines for ageing incinerators following a serious accident in Osaka.

Workers were contaminated with highly-concentrated dioxin during the dismantling of a plant in Nose, and a subsequent lawsuit saw new safety codes for local governments and contractors. This resulted in a sharp hike in costs.

"Some municipalities, unable to afford removal costs, have abandoned de-commissioned incinerators," said Liu, citing the findings of a survey of 47 prefectural authorities in April and May last year.

Liu said the downward trend of incinerators in the US also proves that such waste management methods are becoming more unpopular.

Quoting from a 1997 US Department of Energy report, he said the incinerator market has been steadily shrinking in the US, Europe and Japan due to several factors, including changes in government policy and regulations, and increased public opposition.