KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Corporation Berhad chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan called on the government to reassess its plan for the Kuala Lumpur incinerator project.
This was because the existing waste disposal facilities, including the Bukit Tagar sanitary landfill which has been in operation since 2005, is effectively managing the disposal of waste from Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, he said.
KUB-Berjaya Enviro Sdn Bhd is the operator of the Bukit Tagar sanitary landfill project, with 60 per cent owned by the corporation.
He said the Bukit Tagar landfill had a 120-million tonne capacity and could cater to the total waste generated in KL and Selangor, both of around 5,000 tonnes a day, for over 65 years.
“Currently, Bukit Tagar only manages Kuala Lumpur’s 2,500 tonnes of waste per day and at this level, the Bukit Tagar landfill can last for over 130 years,” he said in a statement.
“Since we already have an adequate sanitary landfill to take care of Kuala Lumpur’s and Selangor’s waste for the long term, in my view, the government should not spend the estimated RM1 billion to implement the KL incinerator project.”
Tan said the RM1 billion should be channelled to the Youth and Sports Ministry and the Football Association of Malaysia to further develop and improve the standard of football in the country.
He believed that the government might have been misled by certain quarters with their own agenda in promoting the Kuala Lumpur incinerator project.
“It would seem that these groups have no regard for what is in the best interest of the nation. Apart from safety and environmental issues, the incinerator project will drain our foreign reserves as most of the equipment and components will need to be sourced from overseas.
“The government should reassess the incinerator project objectively without undue influence from these groups and obtain feedback from all stakeholders before making any definitive decision.
“Otherwise, we may see history repeating itself when something like RM100 million was paid as compensation to the equipment suppliers and contractors when the Broga incinerator project was called off. I hope our government will not make the same mistake again,” he added.
The government, he said, had done an excellent job in conceiving the Bukit Tagar sanitary landfill as a regional landfill for the Klang Valley and supporting it to become the premier and a showcase sanitary landfill in the country.
Since its inception, the Bukit Tagar landfill project had won numerous local and international awards for its management and operational excellence and its commitment to environmental preservation, he said.
-NST
