Bukit Tagar Not Ready To Receive Waste

SHAH ALAM, Dec 25 (Bernama) -- The proposed Bukit Tagar landfill in Hulu Selangor, slated to replace the Air Hitam landfill in Puchong, is not ready to receive wastes from Jan 1, State Multimedia and Environment Committee chairman Datuk Ch'ng Toh Eng said Saturday.

He said the project had yet to receive approval from the federal government on its environmental impact assessment (EIA) study.

Although there were some "works and activities" noted at the site, they were confined to the construction of the infrastructure, he told Bernama here.

The proposed 260-hectare Bukit Tagar landfill has a life expectancy of more than 40 years and capacity for 120 million tonnes of refuse.

KUB-Berjaya Enviro Sdn Bhd, a joint venture between Berjaya Group Bhd and KUB Malaysia Bhd, has been entrusted to build and operate the landfill.

Selangor Infrastructure and Public Amenities Committee chairman Datuk Abdul Fatah Iskandar said last month that wastes from the Federal Territory (FT) would not be allowed to be dumped at the Air Hitam landfill from Jan 1 as the site could no longer cope with combined wastes with FT.

The Air Hitam landfill, built in 1995 to accommodate wastes until 2007, has almost reached its capacity because the site, which was meant to take in 1,500 tonnes of wastes from Selangor daily, is getting almost double the volume.

Selangor generates 1,200 tonnes of wastes daily while Kuala Lumpur produces 1,400 tonnes daily.

Ch'ng said the Selangor government was also waiting for a report from the Department of Environment (DOE) on whether the Bukit Tagar landfill developer had taken the necessary measures to manage leachate.

The developer had been instructed to ensure that the leachate discharged from the disposal centre would not be chanelled to any irrigation system or peat swamp in the surrounding area.

The Selangor government had expressed concern that leachate discharged from the site could contaminate three rivers used by Selangor residents as their main water source -- Sungai Ayer Hitam, Sungai Selangor and Sungai Tengi.

-- BERNAMA