MP SPEAKS | Does DAP Air Putih state assemblyperson cum Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng realise that he, DAP and his Pakatan Harapan cohorts have been given the mandate by Penangites for two terms already, and that they are no longer in the opposition.
Matters involving clamping down on illegal factories belong to the jurisdiction of the state government and in Penang’s case, under the purview of the local government, traffic management exco Chow Kon Yeow.
Can Guan Eng please stop blaming the former BN for all of Pakatan Harapan’s shortcomings? Pakatan Rakyat in 2008, then Pakatan Rakyat against in 2013 and now Pakatan Harapan in 2017 have been in power for nine years already.
This is ample time and years to take action against the illegal carbon filter factory in Sungai Lembu.
It is hypocritical of DAP to stir up emotions within the whole nation pre-2013 GE, picking up so many green issues, for example Lynas in Kuantan (having DAP’s version of a long march from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur) or the Bukit Koman gold mining in Raub, both areas in Pahang, but choose not to act over the illegal carbon factory in Sungai Lembu which Pakatan’s own PKR state assemblyperson Norlela Ariffin had pleaded in tears in the Penang state legislative assembly for the state government to act.
Unfortunately, the Penanti constituency’s tears fell on deaf ears.
Pure coincidence?
Was this plant allowed to be run by BN? If even yes, it was only for a few months, and there were no complaints but the higher incidences of cancer presently are too coincidental. Guan Eng can deny any relationship between cancer and the illegal carbon filter plant located in Sungai Lembu but he cannot deny that 180 villagers have signed a signature campaign objecting against the pollution from the carbon filter plant.
The chief minister cannot deny that more than 10 Sungai Lembu villagers out of its population of 1,000 have been stricken or succumbed to cancer, exceeding the national average of about 88 cancer patients for every 100,000 persons by 23 times.
The tokong (referring to Guan Eng) cannot deny that Norlela and the Sungai Lembu JKKK also wrote many letters to the state government to take action, or that there was a legal letter issued to the JKKK of the village threatening legal action and the issue of higher cancer rates was raised again.
Hazards from process emissions
Under probe for graft links to the illegal plant, environment exco Phee Boon Poh can claim that activated carbon is not toxic to health. By the same argument, gold is not harmful to health.
However, Boon Poh does not divulge that the process of manufacturing activated carbon without pollution control incurs adverse impact to the residents staying near the factory.
The key point is there is no air pollution control system for the carbon activation process.
Air with particulate matters (fine particles, dust and smoke) are not being absorbed and filtered before emitting into the atmosphere.
Do both Guan Eng and Boon Poh know that open burning of fire is too primitive and pollutes the air, while modern and proper set up of carbon plant needs air pollution controls?
A study of an activated carbon plant by the University of Arizona entitled “The Production of Activated Carbon from Coconut Shells Using Pyrolysis and Fluidized Bed Reactors (pages 48 to 50)” indicates health hazards from carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and dust if there are no air quality controls.
Agricultural land misused
Moreover, as this Sungai Lembu plant has been operating illegally for 10 years on agriculture land, why did the Penang state government not legalise it, for example, convert it into industrial land, apply for it to be a legally operating plant?
By allowing it uninterrupted run for 10 years without doing anything while villagers are suffering from contaminated air shows the DAP-led government is not the least bit concerned about the health and welfare of its supporters who voted them in. Why was no advice for the above offered?
Given Boon Poh’s reply in the state legislative assembly which suggests he is so familiar with company issues, why didn’t the Penang state government advise the factory to apply for a manufacturing licence since its business is so good, with 2,000 tonnes of sawdust burnt monthly to be turned into activated carbon for water filters?
In the 2008 general election, DAP’s manifesto pledged “A Healthy Environment for the Future Generation", while Pakatan Rakyat common policy manifesto spoke about "Build a foundation and technological expertise to enable a smooth transition to the use of alternative energy resources".
It does come as no surprise that DAP’s 2013 manifesto and the Pakatan Rakyat manifesto rakyat conveniently removed all references on its 2008 promises on environment protection.
WEE KA SIONG is MCA deputy president and MP for Ayer Hitam. - Mkini
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