Dahlan's 'not segregating waste' remark draws flak
Published: Jul 12, 2014 12:23 AM | Updated: Jul 12, 2014 6:10 AM
Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai has chastised Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan for justifying the government’s plans to build a waste incinerator in Kuala Lumpur because of the residents’ refusal to segregate garbage.
Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai has chastised Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan for justifying the government’s plans to build a waste incinerator in Kuala Lumpur because of the residents’ refusal to segregate garbage.
He described this as the “silliest remark” from the minister given that the success of any waste management programme depends on segregating the waste at its source - an effort not made by the government.
“Foreign experiences have proven that any waste management will fail if segregation of waste is not implemented,” he said in a statement yesterday.
He also pointed out that according to 2012 Auditor-General’s Report, Malaysia’s existing incinerator in Pulau Pangkor was operating at below optimum temperature.
The report has attributed this to lack of workers skilled in operating incinerators, and said the temperature can be increased if the waste is properly segregated and the principles of combustion are better understood by the staff.
Tan said that incinerators need to operate at at least 800 degrees Celsius, below which it would produce cancer-causing dioxins. The Pangkor incinerator was found to be operating at 650 degrees Celsius.
“This shows that how important segregation of waste is. The same mistake is very likely to be repeated in the Taman Beringin incinerator, but at a much larger and more expensive scale.
“If the incinerator operator and government cannot give 100 per cent dioxin-free guarantee to the public, no party should ever be allowed to risk the health of the people by exposing them to unknown dioxin emission level,” he said.
He also pointed out that incinerators are far more expensive than other waste disposal methods at RM150 to RM200 per tonne, compared to RM40 to RM50 per tonne using landfills.
On Thursday, Abdul Rahman said that the incinerator that is to be built in Taman Beringin, Kuala Lumpur - an area near highly-populated Kepong, north of the city - will be safe.
In response to critics, the minister said the incinerator could even be built in Putrajaya, except that the administrative capital does not produce enough garbage.
He also said that the government had to resort to incinerators because a decade of efforts to promote the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle (3R) of garbage had failed.
He claimed Kuala Lumpur is producing so much garbage that it is seven years ahead of the government’s projections.
Incinerator in central Johor
Meanwhile Senai assemblyperson Wong Shu Qi questioned how the small town of Bukit Payung in Batu Pahat in Johor was chosen to be the site of another incinerator if a city like Putrajaya does not produce enough waste.
“The answer (that Putrajaya does not produce enough waste) is going to make Johoreans wonder how Bukit Payung was chosen as a location for an incinerator since it is obvious that more solid waste is produced in the southern part of Johor instead of the central and northern part of Johor.
“It’s clear that if we want to reduce carbon footprint and cost of transferring majority of waste, we should not have the incinerator built at Bukit Payung, a remote area in central Johor,” Wong (right) said.
She said that even if Bukit Pahat indeed produces enough garbage, then Johor Bahru would certainly produce more, and urged the government to disclose if it has plans for more incinerators in Johor so that the public can provide feedback.
Wong also chastised the government for postponing the enforcement of waste segregation by Malaysian households from April 1, 2011 on four occasions, to September 2015.
She said that she believes that most Malaysians would agree that the government has not done enough to education the public on waste segregation and the correct methods of doing so.
“First of all, Abdul Rahman Dahlan needs to answer if his department had tried all methods in promoting and educating public about waste segregation and he must explain why public awareness is still low.
“When most Malaysians do not even realise that we are having waste segregation at source campaign, it is ridiculous for Abdul Rahman Dahlan to say, ‘How long more do we have to wait until Malaysians learn to practice the recycling culture?’” she said.
He described this as the “silliest remark” from the minister given that the success of any waste management programme depends on segregating the waste at its source - an effort not made by the government.
“Foreign experiences have proven that any waste management will fail if segregation of waste is not implemented,” he said in a statement yesterday.
He also pointed out that according to 2012 Auditor-General’s Report, Malaysia’s existing incinerator in Pulau Pangkor was operating at below optimum temperature.
The report has attributed this to lack of workers skilled in operating incinerators, and said the temperature can be increased if the waste is properly segregated and the principles of combustion are better understood by the staff.Tan said that incinerators need to operate at at least 800 degrees Celsius, below which it would produce cancer-causing dioxins. The Pangkor incinerator was found to be operating at 650 degrees Celsius.
“This shows that how important segregation of waste is. The same mistake is very likely to be repeated in the Taman Beringin incinerator, but at a much larger and more expensive scale.
“If the incinerator operator and government cannot give 100 per cent dioxin-free guarantee to the public, no party should ever be allowed to risk the health of the people by exposing them to unknown dioxin emission level,” he said.
He also pointed out that incinerators are far more expensive than other waste disposal methods at RM150 to RM200 per tonne, compared to RM40 to RM50 per tonne using landfills.
On Thursday, Abdul Rahman said that the incinerator that is to be built in Taman Beringin, Kuala Lumpur - an area near highly-populated Kepong, north of the city - will be safe.In response to critics, the minister said the incinerator could even be built in Putrajaya, except that the administrative capital does not produce enough garbage.
He also said that the government had to resort to incinerators because a decade of efforts to promote the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle (3R) of garbage had failed.
He claimed Kuala Lumpur is producing so much garbage that it is seven years ahead of the government’s projections.
Incinerator in central Johor
Meanwhile Senai assemblyperson Wong Shu Qi questioned how the small town of Bukit Payung in Batu Pahat in Johor was chosen to be the site of another incinerator if a city like Putrajaya does not produce enough waste.
“The answer (that Putrajaya does not produce enough waste) is going to make Johoreans wonder how Bukit Payung was chosen as a location for an incinerator since it is obvious that more solid waste is produced in the southern part of Johor instead of the central and northern part of Johor.“It’s clear that if we want to reduce carbon footprint and cost of transferring majority of waste, we should not have the incinerator built at Bukit Payung, a remote area in central Johor,” Wong (right) said.
She said that even if Bukit Pahat indeed produces enough garbage, then Johor Bahru would certainly produce more, and urged the government to disclose if it has plans for more incinerators in Johor so that the public can provide feedback.
Wong also chastised the government for postponing the enforcement of waste segregation by Malaysian households from April 1, 2011 on four occasions, to September 2015.
She said that she believes that most Malaysians would agree that the government has not done enough to education the public on waste segregation and the correct methods of doing so.
“First of all, Abdul Rahman Dahlan needs to answer if his department had tried all methods in promoting and educating public about waste segregation and he must explain why public awareness is still low.
“When most Malaysians do not even realise that we are having waste segregation at source campaign, it is ridiculous for Abdul Rahman Dahlan to say, ‘How long more do we have to wait until Malaysians learn to practice the recycling culture?’” she said.
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