The Department of Environment (DOE) has extended until Feb 28 the deadline for public comments on the addendum to the detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the billion-ringgit incinerator plant in Broga, near Semenyih.

About 60 residents from Kampung Broga and neighbouring areas asked for a three-month extension when they went to submit written comments at the DOE headquarters in Putrajaya today.

The initial deadline for public feedback was this Thursday.

Residents also decried ongoing work at the site pending approval of the additional report.

At a press conference later, Broga sub-committee chairperson Dr Zulkefly Mohamad Omar said drains were already being built along the road that led to the site which is in a water catchment area in Semenyih about 45 minutes south of Kuala Lumpur.

"We find this very disturbing because related project work is underway despite the DOE's approval. In fact, we are just submitting our comments on the additional EIA report.

"Furthermore, logging activities have been seen in the area within the forest reserve, which will affect the catchment area that is the source of water supply to the Klang Valley."

He said Broga residents plan to lodge a police report pertaining to these developments on Thursday before organising a media visit to the incinerator site.

The media was also barred from a meeting between residents and the DOE chaired by its evaluation director Halimah Hassan, who also received the 3,417 copies of written comments.

Targeting 10,000

The group plans to collect about 10,000 by the end of February, similar to the number submitted for the detailed EIA previously.

Zulkefly said Halimah declined to comment or respond to residents' queries on many occasions, only saying that their complaints and concerns will be noted.

"We wanted the DOE to order all work at the site to stop until the EIA issue is sorted out but she did not say anything at all."

They had expected to meet DOE director-general Rosnani Ibarahim but she was attending to an urgent matter in Labis, Johor.

Several reporters tried approaching Halimah after the residents' press conference but were told that it was lunch-time and to try again almost two hours later.

Zulkefly said the release of the addendum when the validity of the EIA is still being contested in court also gave rise to suspicion of the real motive.

"Furthermore, the report is only in English, which has made it very difficult for us to translate and explain the technicalities in Bahasa Malaysia.

"We will be asking the Selangor MB on his promise that he will stop the project if the site is confirmed to be in a water catchment area. The EIA has in fact confirmed this and we want him to keep his word."

Also present was DAP international secretary and NGO bureau chief Ronnie Liu.

Fresh study

The addendum to the EIA covers a new study area 200 metres lower than the original site of the 1,500-tonne capacity per day municipal solid waste thermal treatment plant.

The additional study is believed to have been undertaken following the failure of Japanese engineering company Ebara Corp in Tokyo to fulfill the conditions in the main EIA report.

The local project partner Consortium Ebara Corporation and Hartasuma Sdn Bhd was unable to confirm if it could undertake the additional conditions set by the DOE.

The objections, among others, have remained the same since the project was relocated from Kampung Bohol in suburban Puchong to backwater Broga in late November 2002.

The project is opposed on grounds that it is too close to residential areas and the new Nottingham University Malaysia Campus, its implementation is in breach of planning guidelines and the new site is still within the Semenyih water catchment area.

Others reasons are the potential environmental and health harm from dioxin emissions, the absence of any disposal methods in the addendum for the highly-toxic fly-ash, policy violation on developments on slopes exceeding a 25-degree gradient, huge financial burden on taxpayers and the possible loss of livelihood.

Premature offer

Another grave concern was over the letters sent by the Selangor Land and Minerals Department to 28 landowners asking them to collect their compensation cheques for acquisition of land to build the access road to the plant.

Lee, who was present, said the amount is believed to be between RM600,000 and RM700,000 but she could not confirm the exact range or how many had accepted the offer.

"We believe most of them are MCA members and they are not telling anyone anything. We hope the department will withdraw the letters pending the disposal of the court case."

The Shah Alam High Court has postponed the matter three times after government lawyers failed to reply the residents' affidavit for the project details to be made public.

In February 2003, the government handed Ebara the job to design, build and operate the plant using Japan's zero emission technology which is touted as the first of its kind in the world.

Three years on, the countless letters from Broga's most vocal resident and active committee member Alice Lee to Housing and Local Government Minister and MCA president Ong Ka Ting has been steadily ignored.

The comments were also copied to the prime minister, his deputy, Selangor menteri besar, Housing and Local Government Ministry, members of Parliament, politicians, non-governmental organisations, the media and the Shah Alam High Court.