"Broga Incinerator Project Cancelled As It's Too Expensive," Says Najib - Is This True?

The Government had decided to cancel the RM1.5bil incinerator project in Broga last year as it was very costly to build and to maintain.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Najib Tun Razak said the decision last year was made at a meeting he chaired with the Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting.

Speaking to the reporters here he said the decision was not due to any protest or court action but due to the high capital cost and keeping fee to have such incinerator.

"The studies showed that the Broga incinerator system, which cost more than RM1.5bil, is very expensive. (TheStar update)

***** Since when has a 'mere' RM1.5bil stopped the government from carrying out its plans?

The incinerator, which would have been the region's largest, was awarded to a consortium comprising Japan's Ebara Corporation and local leech Harta Summa (I wonder which Umnoputra is linked here?) Ebara, had last year completed the design and proceeded with the viability and environmental studies on the incinerator.

The project sparked a storm of protests from environmentalists and residents in Broga in Semenyih, south of the federal capital, who alleged the incinerator was untested and a health hazard. The residents held demonstrations and obtained a court injunction to stop the project but the order was set aside. (This application to the Court of Appeal was in response to the earlier verdict.)

However, the status of the project became doubtful after the ministry's technical committee decided to have a re-look at it which led to speculations that the incinerator might be scaled down or even scrapped.

In August 2006 reports surfaced that due to unceasing protests and the legal proceedings, the project was to be shelved. However Ebara corporation not taking kindly to our government suddenly developing cold feet had claimed compensation of RM500 million.

Business Times Singapore reported last year: "The reason (for the about-face) could be rooted in politics: the project simply is not popular as no neighbourhood wanted it in their backyard.

Indeed, the project has been plagued by delays. Originally mooted in 2003 during the government of former premier Mahathir Mohamad, the incinerator was slated for Puchong, a working-class industrial township south-west of Kuala Lumpur. But fierce protests from residents there killed it.

Broga, a rural outpost to the south of Kuala Lumpur, was the government's next choice. But even its residents attempted to stop the project by way of a court injunction.

The injunction was set aside and the project was awarded to a consortium led by Ebara. But the growing unpopularity of Mr Abdullah's administration over cost-of-living hikes may have had a bearing on the project, the businessmen said.

There was also anxiety in the government over the environmental side effects of waste disposal projects.

In any case, the policy reversal is bound to spark a battle over compensation for invested monies and foregone earnings. A previous policy reversal involving the scrapping of a half-bridge to replace Malaysia's side of the Causeway is already being fiercely contested.

Moreover, the businessmen said that Ebara had submitted a RM500 million claim to the government for progress payments over a month ago."

***** So considering all the details given above, could we reasonably conclude that political motives and not financial prudence was the prime consideration which led to the cancellation of the project?

But all of us have to ponder over one observation in the Business Times report:

Meanwhile, something will have to replace the project. Kuala Lumpur churns out 2,700 tonnes of waste a day, which is more than its disposal sites can handle. The amount of rubbish in the Malaysian capital alone is more than 40 per cent of the 6,240 tonnes of rubbish burnt a day in Singapore.

Now that's indeed a very worrisome prospect! Any ideas on overcoming this before it raises a stink?
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