Tender documents for Waste to Energy (Wte) plant in Taman Beringin, Kepong highlight major concerns about the identified site for this plant

Media Statement by Dr. Ong Kian Ming, MP for Serdang, on the 4^th of March, 2014

This morning, I visited the proposed site for a Waste to Energy (WtE) plant in Taman Beringin, Kepong, as part of a visit that was organized by Unit Kerjasama Awam Swasta (UKAS) for those interested in putting a bid for this project. The proposed site is located next to the Taman Beringin Transfer Station.

One of the documents which were released to the potential bidders was a site study conducted by Uni-Technologies, a company owned by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). The report entitled “Mengkaji Kesesuaian Tapak Bagi Pembinaan Loji Rawatan Termal di Kawasan Tapak Pelupusan Sisa Pepejal Taman Beringin, Jinjang Utara, Kuala Lumpur” (Site Suitability Study for the building of a thermal treatment plant at the Solid Waste Disposal Site in Taman Beringin, Jinjang Utara, Kuala Lumpur) (Attached below). This study (attached below), which was completed in February, 2013, assumed that a thermal treatment plant – in other words, an incinerator – would be built at the proposed site. This is further proof that the entire tender exercise is biased towards the building of an incinerator despite the claim from the National Solid Waste Management Agency that the tender is technology neutral.

More worrying, the same report also showed that the proposed site B for the WtE plant does not fulfil the 500m buffer zone which is a requirement under the guidelines established by the Department of Environment (DOE).  For Options B1 and B2, the proposed plant is 91.78m and 56.93m respectively from the Jinjang Utara residential area (See Appendix 1A and 1B below). At the same time, Options B1 and B2 are also only 76.72m and 112.4m from an existing Shell and Petronas Petrol stations.

The lack of this buffer zone would not only put at risk the residents in nearby Jinjang Utara but could potentially be hazardous to those who frequent the two nearby petrol stations. 

It was only in November 2013 that a fire broke out at the Tuas incinerator plant in Singapore. [1] If the same happened in the WtE plant at the proposed site, which is next to a major highway (MRR2) and in a high population density area, the lives of many people would be put at risk.

In addition, according to the KL Draft City Plan 2020, the propose WtE site also overlaps with future planned residential areas in the vicinity (See Appendix 2 below).

The fact that the National Solid Waste Management Agency chose only to present this study to the potential bidders and not to the public at large clearly shows that they are worried about the possible negative implications from the publication of this study. This once again shows the lack of consistency and transparency on the part of the National Solid Waste Management Agency and the Ministry of Urban-Well Being, Housing and Local Government in managing the building of the proposed WtE plant.