The conditions listed by the Housing and Local Government Ministry for approval of the giant incinerator project in Broga lack originality and do not change anything, said the head of local residents committee.

Semenyih/Broga No Incinerator pro-tem action committee chairperson Prof P Ramasamy said the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process has been presented to the public as a fait accompli .

"The conditions do not really change the fundamental fact that the project should not have been approved," he said when contacted today.

"They do not to mitigate the pernicious effects of the incinerator (when it begins) operations. The government merely wants to be seen as safeguarding the rakyat's rights and as protecting the environment."

One of the conditions requires the ministry to set up a joint monitoring committee to gauge the plant's performance after it comes on stream in 2007, to cover its full 20-year lifespan.

The monitoring committee is required "to receive and, if possible, reflect" public suggestions on the plant's design, construction, operation and maintenance.

However, Ramasamy pointed out that Malaysia does not have good implementing mechanisms in the first place.

'Transparency still lacking'

As the proponent of the project, the ministry has to meet six conditions imposed by the Department of Environment before it can proceed with the construction of the RM1.5 billion plant near Semenyih.

The conditions were first proposed by Perunding Utama Sdn Bhd, the government-appointed consultant, as part of its environmental management and monitoring plan. Its responses to public objections were released last Thursday, although the report was completed last December.

Ramasamy, a resident of Taman Tasik Semenyih, said approval of the project has not come as a total surprise.

"We did expect approval to be given, especially when the entire process has been seriously lacking in transparency right from the beginning.

"And the government now expects us to have faith in its assurances. How can we even feel confident with the conditions set, especially when public accountability means nothing in our country?"

Ramasamy said the ministry should have given a better explanation to the rakyat as to why it has chosen to proceed with the project.

"Now, it seems more like trying to figure out how to justify the approval," he said.

He said the fact remains that the project is to be situated in a water catchment area, which is the source of water to millions of Malaysians in the Klang Valley.

"This fact cannot be eliminated just by attaching conditions to the approval," he said, adding that residents are considering legal action.

Broga residents and special interest groups have consistently argued that the site is unsuitable for such a mammoth plant - it will be able to process up to 1,500 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day.

The proposed plant is believed to be the largest of its kind in the world to use the Japanese fluidised-bed gasification and ash-melting technology, but international scientists have argued that the disadvantages far outweigh the benefits.