| MANILA, PHILIPPINES, - September 30 - Civil society representatives from across Asia and the world today urged the Prime Minister of Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to cancel the controversial
mega-
incinerator project in Broga, Selangor. In an Open Letter signed by over 230 NGOs and individuals from 39 countries, Dr. Mahathir was exhorted not to close his eyes to the many scientific studies linking incineration to ill health and environmental destruction and pay attention to what the Rakyat (the local term for "people") are saying.
Reacting to his censure of local anti-incinerator groups, they asked Prime Minister, who is a medical doctor, these questions: "Do you mean to say that it is tolerable for the Rakyat to suffer from a health-threatening and wasteful disposal method since Malaysia is "still a developing country"? That the Rakyat, at this stage of national development, do not deserve to enjoy the benefits of clean, healthy and sustainable alternatives to incineration? That the cancers and other diseases being suffered by communities hosting incinerators in developed countries are acceptable to Your Excellency?"
"It is unfortunate that the Malaysian government is favoring a costly and deadly technological non-solution for its waste problems instead of adopting proven, safe and sustainable discard management systems. By pushing this incinerator, the government is guilty of imposing a mistake of Western industrialization on the people of Broga. This is truly regrettable considering that the developing world has often looked up to Malaysia and the Prime Minister for leadership on environmental issues," according to Von Hernandez, Co-Coordinator, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), a coalition of more than 380 public interest groups and individuals from 67 countries working to phase out all forms of waste incineration and to promote clean production, zero waste and environmental justice.
The 1,500-tonne incinerator using fluidized bed gasification technology, purportedly the largest of this type in Asia, will cost 1.5 billion ringgit (about US$395 million) to build and 200 million ringgit (about US$53
million) to operate per year. Residents of Broga and adjacent communities and public interest groups have asked the government to cancel the project, citing critical public health, environmental, socio-economic and financial risks. The project environmental impact assessment (EIA) is pending approval from the Department of Environment.
Affected residents are disappointed and distressed with the blatant refusal of the authorities to discuss and dialogue with the Broga/Semenyih No Incinerator Protem Committee (www.no-incinerators.com), which represents community members from 25 housing estates and several villages in Broga and surrounding areas. "Residents feel that the government is going for a solution that is not sustainable, is outmoded (as more and more countries are moving away from it), is not economically justified but rather will become an economic burden for residents and most importantly will pose critical health hazards in the form of increased risk of cancers, infertility, birth deformities and abnormal child development," reported Prof. Ramasamy, Chairperson of the Committee.
"We cannot understand why the authorities are insisting on going ahead with this discredited solution of incinerating municipal waste when other sustainable alternatives have not been seriously implemented. It is very frightening that the authorities are experimenting with the world's largest gasification plant in Malaysia, which is only in the pilot stage in Japan," added Prof. Ramasamy.
The costly project, stipulated to be designed and built by Ebara Corporation and financed through a yen loan package, has drawn criticism from Japan itself, the most incinerator intensive country on earth. Noted Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner: "Putting so much money for incinerators to pollute the environment and destroy the resources is not simply the way to solve the waste problems. It only creates other grave life-threatening problems, which Japanese incinerator companies don't have the solution yet."
S. M. Mohamed Idris, President, Consumers' Association of Penang, commented that, "Building an incinerator in Broga or anywhere else offers no lasting solution to our waste problems. What the country needs is a holistic, community-driven approach that focuses on waste prevention, reduction, segregation at source, recycling and composting. With the active participation of the Rakyat, the government and the industry, we can put a stop to wasting, conserve our resources and safeguard public health."
The groups called upon the Government of Malaysia to abide by the goals of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), which it has signed on 16 May 2002 and implement alternative non-burn technologies that will not result to the formation of new POPs, particularly dioxins and furans, which are toxic by-products of waste incineration. The Convention seeks to rid the global environment of 12 cancer-causing pollutants (four of which are linked to incinerators).
To read the Open Letter and the list of endorsers, please visit the GAIA website at www.no-burn.org
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