The government had awarded five low-key incinerator projects to the same company despite it being inexperienced in building incinerators and despite there being major delays in at least four of those projects.

NONEDAP’s Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming (right) pointed out today that XCN Technology Sdn Bhd, in which the major shareholder is a former navy chief, delayed completing the Langkawi incinerator 797 days.

XCN Technology also completed the Pangkor incinerator after a delay of 286 days, while the Tioman incinerator was delayed by 996 days and the Cameron Highlands incinerator by 533 days.

All these projects, worth RM153.74 million in all, were highlighted in the 2012 Auditor-General's Report.

Ong said all four contracts were awarded via direct negotiations, and on top of it, a new Labuan incinerator project was also awarded to the same company in January this year, again through direct negotiations.

"If the Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Ministry cannot even oversee the construction and running of four small-scale incinerators in a transparent manner, what gives it the confidence that it can oversee the 1,000 tonnes-a-day incinerator in Taman Beringin?” he asked, referring to the proposed major incinerator project for Kepong.

Ong also said that the company had then used a new incinerator technology, based on autogenous burning, though it was an unproven technology.

The audit report later stated that the incinerator in Pangkor was not burning autogenously because it failed to achieve the minimum temperature requirement of 850 degrees Celcius.

“The audit report also states that the incinerators did not fulfill the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requirements,” he said further during a press conference at the DAP headquarters.

“I urge Abdul Rahman Dahlan (Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister) to explain why his predecessors gave these contracts to a company without a track record in building and operating incinerators,” he said.