NIBONG TEBAL: Appropriate action will be taken against the company which manages the Pulau Burung landfill if it is found to have failed to comply with the standard operating procedures (SOP) regulation set by the authorities.
Deputy Environment and Water Minister Datuk Mansor Othman said they were still awaiting a full report on the fire which broke out at the landfill on Wednesday.
"I am still waiting for the detailed report from the state Department of Environment (DoE) on the matter.
"If we find that the company failed to comply with the SOP regulation set, appropriate action will be taken against it," he told newsmen here today.
Mansor said they would work with the state government on the matter.
State DoE director Sharifah Zakiah Syed Sahab said this was not the first time action had been taken against the company.
"The last time the company was compounded was last year for open burning. There is still a matter pending in court against the company for management of leachate," she added.
Earlier, Mansor said the authorities were looking for solutions to similar incidents in future.
"There is no doubt that the fire at the landfill this time is the most serious compared to several incidents before this. We are committed to finding a solution to the issue," he added.
It was reported that a section of the Pulau Burung landfill in Jalan Byram here caught fire on Wednesday afternoon.
However, toxic fumes at the landfill resulted in air pollution affecting the nearby villages.
Meanwhile, Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) said it was extremely concerned that the fire at the Pulau Burung landfill was still burning underground although the fire on the surface was reportedly extinguished and under control.
SAM president Meenakshi Raman said the toxic fumes engulfing the surrounding area had prompted evacuation of about 400 residents nearby.
"SAM had earlier issued a statement on Friday (Jan 14), requesting the state and relevant authorities to hold an inquiry and publicise the cause of the landfill fire.
"We have learned that the landfill had caught fire a number of times last year and in previous years there were complaints of leachate overflowing from the landfill, which had subsequently polluted the waters here and also caused damage to the mangrove forests nearby.
"The Pulau Burung landfill was intended to be upgraded but we have not seen an improvement of the landfill operations," she said, adding that it was reported in December last year that the Seberang Prai City Council had sent a notice to the landfill concession company to start upgrading works at the landfill and the company was ticked off for its poor maintenance.
"From the spate of problems encountered, the relevant authorities must conduct a thorough investigation.
"Penang is touted to be the top state with the highest recycling rates in the country but the many cases of open dumping, mismanaged waste and the performance of the Pulau Burung landfill reflects badly on the state's management of waste.
"We are now concerned that incinerator peddlers will start cajoling the state government with their technologies again. From pyrolysis to waste-to-energy plants, these technologies have been paraded as the solution to final disposal of waste. Some are pushing for zero landfill by offering incineration. But in actual fact, incineration also needs landfill space to dispose bottom ash," she added.
SAM, Meenakshi said, cautioned the Penang government not to be taken in with the industry hype and propositions for incineration, gasification, pyrolysis and other incinerators in disguise, because scientific data had proven that the supposed benefits of these technologies outweighed by the financial, health and environmental risks.
She said Penang should be a front-runner in moving towards zero waste with community-based approaches of waste prevention, plastic reduction, reusing, repairing, and composting of organic waste.
"Mandatory waste separation in the state must be strictly enforced with enabling infrastructure, good collection system, and safe recycling.
"We urge the Penang government and both city councils to review the performance of the landfill operator, and take appropriate action to prevent any more incidents that risks the communities here or pollutes the environment," she said.