Published: 15 October 2015 4:19 PM
Research officer S. Mageswari (centre) and SAM members hope to pressure ResourceCo Asia (M) Sdn Bhd into returning the waste it has imported from Australia for the purpose of manufacturing fuel for a cement manufacturer, outside the plant in IGB Industrial Park in Ipoh today. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Wong Tuck Keong, October 15, 2015.Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) wants stern action taken against ResourceCo Asia (M) Sdn Bhd for illegal trafficking of waste into the country.
Research officer S. Mageswari said following an anonymous tip-off, SAM had discovered that the company had imported solid waste from Australia for the purpose of manufacturing fuel for cement manufacturer Lafarge in Kanthan, Perak and Rawang, Selangor.
“SAM followed up with the Department of Environment (DOE) and was informed that it had sent the company a notice to return the waste to Australia.
“We want the authorities to take stringent action to send a message to other companies that may have acted similarly.
“Malaysia is not a dumping ground, the waste should return to Australia,” said Mageswar outside the ResourceCo Asia plant in IGB Industrial Park in Ipoh today.
She and several others had turned up with placards in a bid to pressure the company into obeying the DOE notice to return the waste, which importation is illegal under Article 9 of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.
Mageswari said according to the DOE’s letter to SAM in August, the company had classified the solid waste as solid fuel and failed to provide the environmental impact assessment of the process of turning solid waste into solid fuel.
“They should act fast or we will proceed to complaints to the Australian Embassy,” she said.
ResourceCo Asia general manager K. Muralindran said the company was already in discussions and cooperating with DOE on the matter.
“We have stopped importing waste material from Australia since being restricted in July by the DOE.
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