PUTRAJAYA: Putrajaya has urged critics of waste-to-energy (WTE) plants to be more receptive to the idea, even as the government moves to clean up the accumulated rubbish in the country.
Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other individuals did not have a good perception of the WTE.
WTE is a waste management facility where solid rubbish is burnt to produce electricity.
Noting that in the past, people thought negatively about incinerators, Zuraida said the technology had since advanced and the system was not something to worry about anymore.
“There are samples of WTE being placed, constructed and positioned in the middle of housing estates or cities. There is no issue actually. I hope people can learn to be more open about it.
“For the country to progress, with all the outstanding rubbish we have, I have to clean up that way,” she said in an interview held in conjunction with Pakatan Harapan’s one year in power recently.
Zuraida had previously stated that the usage of dump sites was expensive with land cost as one of the burdening factors, while WTE plants are cleaner, more productive and more economical.
Zuraida had said the transition to WTE would also enable the country to generate revenue through the production of renewable energy.
Earlier this month, the Kuala Lumpur Taknak Insinerator (KTI) movement questioned how Zuraida drew the conclusion that WTE initiatives offered cleaner, more efficient and more economical alternatives to landfills, without listening to public concerns.
It claimed Zuraida’s answer in Parliament that incinerators were less costly compared with landfills bordered on ignorance.
Elaborating on the matter further, Zuraida said the ministry planned to convert landfills into WTE plants.
“We just need to transform that. It is easier. We do not have to go through the DoE (Department of Environment) process. This is because, since it is already approved as a landfill, it can be approved for WTE,” she said.
On which landfills were being considered for WTE plants, Zuraida named Bukit Payung and Seelong (Johor), Jabi and Samling (Kedah) and Bukit Tagar (Selangor).
On accusations by KTI that she was turning a deaf ear over concerns against incinerators, Zuraida said she had engaged with them, and that she had met up with them in Parliament a few times.
“I sat down with them when I became minister. They came to see me first.
“They wanted to do a recycling programme, and I was on board with it. I asked them to come under the ministry’s National Community Policy, to do it with the community,” she said.
The PKR vice-president said while she has spoken on enhancing and increasing activities for recycling, the approach taken by the KTI was “a bit too slow”.
Zuraida said the group could carry out the recycling programme at a high middle income residential area, where people were more educated and willing and had more time to do it.
“But at the moment, I have so much outstanding rubbish, I have to clean up the country first. Let it be clean first, then we move on to recycling.
“We will come to a point of a complete circle economy, where rubbish can be turned into money, and that is where the recycling programme comes in.
“So it is not true I have turned a deaf ear. I do not have a deaf ear,” she said.
Zuraida also said the government was planning to amend the Local Government Act 1976 for heavier penalties to be imposed to curb illegal waste operations.
She said at present local councils could only impose a maximum fine of RM300.
“So, they can fine the culprits RM300 over and over again, it would not matter. This is why I am going to amend the Act 171 (Local Government Act 1976), where a higher fine of RM500,000 can be imposed,” she said.
Zuraida said they were now gathering feedback from other ministries on the amendment, which she admitted was taking too much time.
“Being in the government, there is too much bureaucracy. It is not ready yet. It is now making its rounds at the ministries for their feedback. That is taking time. But I believe it can be done by this year,” she added.
