Minister clarifies that the proposed incinerator project in Kepong was indeed suspended,

Kepong incinerator project suspended, clarifies Zuraida

Nur Hasliza Mohd Salleh | August 21, 2018

FREEMALAYSIATODAY



Housing and local government minister blames miscommunication for report that project would go ahead.



Zuraida Kamaruddin says her ministry was looking for an alternative way to solve the waste problem.

KUALA LUMPUR: Zuraida Kamaruddin today clarified that the proposed incinerator project in Kepong was indeed suspended, following reports that it was going ahead.

The housing and local government minister also attributed the confusion over the project’s status to a miscommunication between her and her deputy, Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad.

Last week, Raja Bahrin said at the Dewan Rakyat that the incinerator would be built as planned.

According to The Star, the ministry said the decision was based on several reasons, including that an open tender was carried out and that the plant could reduce reliance on landfills for waste disposal.



“He was not given an update on the project. I did not have the time to update him.

“But we are reviewing the project and looking for an alternative way to solve the waste problem,” the Ampang MP told reporters after launching a Jalur Gemilang giveaway ceremony today.

The Kepong incinerator project was revived in 2017 after it had been stalled. An earlier tender process was scrapped in 2015.

The proposed project had come under the limelight in 2014 with DAP’s Ong Kian Ming and then urban wellbeing, housing and local government minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan trading barbs over the need for an incinerator.

Prior to the May 9 polls this year, activists had again protested against the project, saying at least six new housing development projects would be affected if the incinerator was built.