Landfill can cater to waste for 60 more years

PETALING JAYA: The government should not waste RM1 billion on implementing the Kuala Lumpur incinerator project as the sanitary landfill facility at Bukit Tagar has the capacity to cater for waste disposal for at least 60 more years.
Berjaya Corp Bhd founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan (pix) said the Bukit Tagar sanitary landfill (BTSL), which has a 120 million-tonne capacity, can easily manage about 5,000 tonnes of daily waste from both Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
At the current level of usage, managing only Kuala Lumpur's 2,500 tonnes of waste per day, BTSL can be used for the next 130 years, he said in a press statement today.
Since there is already an adequate sanitary landfill to take care of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor's waste for the long-term, the government should not spend the estimated RM1 billion on the Kuala Lumpur incinerator project, Tan said.
"Instead of investing RM1 billion on the incinerator project, the government should channel the money to the Youth and Sports Ministry and the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to further develop and improve the standard of football in Malaysia," he said.
He said for example, football academies should be built to raise the level of football in Malaysia which at the international level has been on the decline for many years.
"Long gone are the days when Malaysians revelled at the footballing skills of the late great Mokhtar Dahari, Soh Chin Aun, R. Arumugam and Santokh Singh, just to name a few of our football veterans," he added.
On criticism of BTSL, Tan believes the government may 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," Tan said.
He urged the government to 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," said Tan, adding that the government has 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.
KUB-Berjaya Enviro Sdn Bhd, the developer and operator of the Bukit Tagar Sanitary Landfill, won the overall CDL Outstanding Singapore Environmental Achievement Awards (SEAA) for 2013.