Expedite construction of Sungai Udang WTE plant - AB Rauf

MELAKA - The Melaka state government has called for the construction of the Waste to Energy (WTE) plant or incinerator at the Sungai Udang Sanitary Solid Waste Disposal Site here to be expedited and ready by next year ahead of its original schedule in 2026.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh said all parties involved in the development of the WTE plant are also expected to facilitate its implementation because the project is very important to the people of the state.

He said the construction of the WTE was not only able to accommodate the increasing amount of garbage dumped at the landfill, which now exceeds 1,100 tonnes per day.

"The Solid Waste Disposal Site in Sungai Udang is the only scheduled solid waste disposal area in the state and it has become a concern of the people due to the slow process in price negotiations as well as the terms and conditions of the project.

"The slower the negotiation process is, the slower the project goes on and more of this landfill site will be filled up thus affecting the surrounding community with the odour and houseflies,” he said here today.

He said this after conducting a working visit to the Solid Waste Disposal Site in Sungai Udang here which was also attended by the state Housing, Local Government, Drainage, Climate Change and Disaster Management Committee chairman Datuk Rais Yasin and the National Solid Waste Management Department deputy director-general Muhamad Zaini Hasnan.

Commenting further, Ab Rauf said the state government has given good cooperation on the issue of land acquisition in the area involved to develop the WTE, but the implementation is still at the negotiation stage with several parties involved including the Public Private Partnership Unit (Ukas) and Malakoff Corporation Bhd (MCB).

He said the existing landfills to accommodate the disposal of solid waste for Melaka are fast running out of space as land cells are expected to be full by July this year while other land cells are expected to be full in another two years.

The Sungai Udang Sanitary Solid Waste Disposal Site was operational in 2015 and it is the only waste disposal location for three districts in the state.

The WTE project, which is worth more than RM700 million, will be developed using the technology from Japan through a public-private partnership and the plant is expected to be able to process 800 tonnes of garbage per day.

The project was developed through an open tender issued on Jan 29 2021 and the concession period of the project is for 34 years. - BERNAMA