There is no need for garbage incinerators in the country if Malaysians are more environmentally conscious and are better educated on recycling, the Kuala Lumpur Rejects Incinerator Action Committee (KTI) said today.

NONE This, according to KTI committee member Lee Chong Teh ( right ), will also help to cut the cost of waste disposal borne by the government.

“We demand plans for the (Kepong) incinerator be scrapped and it is best is not to have any incinerator at all. It is a very expensive and costly machine. It will cause great harm to the health of the people living nearby.

“The people must be educated from young to learn and practise 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle). It is healthy and can cut the cost of rubbish disposal by the government,” Lee said after the action committee’s protest march to the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) headquarters this morning.

He suggested that the government should place more recycling bins around the city and play more committed role in educating the people to become more environmentally-conscious.

NONE Lee said this after some 100 KTI members and supporters marched more than 15 kilometres from Taman Sri Murni in Kepong to the DBKL doorstep today to hand over a memorandum to the City Hall demanding the proposed incinerator in Kepong be scrapped. The march took four hours.

However, only 15 committee members were allowed to enter the City Hall building lobby to hand over the memorandum and petition meant for KL Mayor Ahmad Phesal Talib, which was accepted by DBKL special officer Khairul Eswan Ishak.

NONE Meanwhile, KTI chairperson Isaiah Jacob said the committee succeeded in obtaining 12,499 signatures for the petition , launched in October.

KTI then proceeded to march to Parliament to hand in the memorandum to Prime Minister Najib Addul Razak.

The planned incinerator in Taman Beringin, Kepong has been rejected by the residents of the area as it will be located a mere 3km radius from residential areas, comprising almost 1,000 houses.

KTI expressed concern that the combustion of garbage could lead to health problems such as cancer, asthma and disabilities in children being born due to the release of hazardous gasses rich in mercury, lead and other chemical compounds.

Meanwhile, supporting KTI, Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming urged the Housing and Urban Well-being Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan to provide assurances that:

  • The government will not be biased towards an incinerator and will fairly consider all other waste-to-energy options;
  • The government will make public the terms of reference and bids for the open international tender; and
  • The solution will not be implemented if Detailed Environment Impact Assessment (DEIA) shows that the chosen technology is unsuitable.

“If the minister fails to provide these assurances, it will only increase the distrust among the residents of Kepong and even the Klang Valley that the open international bidding and the subsequent DEIA will only be rubber stamps to build an incinerator in Taman Beringin,” he said in a statement.