KUALA LUMPUR: The Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry is open to greater public engagement over the proposed RM800mil incinerator project in Kepong here.
Its minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan issued the invitation to help ease fears over the proposal to build the incinerator in Taman Bering after residents in the area voiced their concerns.
“I do appreciate the concerns raised by the public and that is why we have been doing a lot of engagement to allay their worries.
“Our doors are open to them but their questions must be based on facts and figures,” he said when contacted here yesterday.
He noted that several resident groups had previously participated in town-hall gatherings, including being taken overseas to see how hi-tech incinerators are managed and operated.
Abdul Rahman reiterated the incinerator, which can handle 1,000 tonnes of garbage a day, was an alternative to using landfills to deal with growing problem of increasing garbage.
“It is precisely for this reason that the Government insisted the project be done through international tender. This is to address the shortcomings of managing smaller incinerators,” he said.
He added the company that is awarded the contract must have an international partner with experience in managing and operating hi-tech incinerators.
Abdul Rahman was responding to worries raised by NGOs Kami Tak-Nak Insinerator (KTI – We don’t want the incinerator) and Persatuan Taman Residence over the proposed project.
KTI chairman Lee Chong Tek claimed over 100,000 residents living in several housing estates in the vicinity would be exposed to health risks if the proposed incinerator was not maintained and managed well.