Fuming over stench from smoky dumpsite

Smoke emanating from the illegal dumpsite near the Twin Palms residential area. — Photos: GRACE CHEN/The Star

ABOUT 3km from the Twin Palms residential area of Bandar Sungai Long, a “burning hill” has been plaguing nearby residents since smoke began seeping out from the ground three years ago.

Accessible via the Kajang Dispersal Link Expressway (SILK), the 1.62ha land was once an illegal dumpsite.

The amount of rubbish here was said to be equivalent to the height of a 13-storey building.

The smoke has been attributed to an underground fire.

During a visit by StarMetro, a pungent odour from the fumes permeated our four-wheel drive vehicle even though the windows were closed.

“It looks like the whole hill is burning, doesn’t it?” said Taman Taming Indah Residents Association (TTIRA) vice-chairman Wong Yap Seng, 63, who drove us there.

(From left) Cheong, Indrakaran and Wong at the illegal rubbish dump in Sungai Long.

TTIRA president Ben Ong said residents living as far as 6km away complained about the odour.

“Those located within a 2km radius are the most badly affected. Thirteen residential areas are affected by the malodour,” said Ong, who said he had sent a memorandum to the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry six months ago urging action to be taken.

One of those affected is Tropicana Cheras resident Kam Kim Tong, 57, who said, “It feels like there is a perpetual gas leak inside my home”.

Open burning of construction waste occurs when there are new development or renovation projects.

Taman Suria resident Hoh Siew Wai, 46, said since smoke began appearing out of the ground, his family members’ visits to the neighbourhood clinic were becoming more frequent.

Other residents, like Wong, said they were beginning to suffer from respiratory ailments, like coughs and breathing difficulties.

To make matters worse, open burning is also taking place at the dumpsite.

“Fly-tippers have been illegally dumping waste from development or renovation projects here,” Kam said.

Residents are demanding for swift remedial action to be taken.

The Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) has known of the existence of the illegal dumpsite near Twin Palms since 2015.

Then MPKj president Mohd Sayuthi Bakar had announced that the council’s enforcement unit would go after those responsible including landowners for allowing illegal dumping activities on their properties.

StarMetro previously reported that in 2021, MPKJ spent RM209,790 to put out fires at illegal dumpsites within its jurisdiction and restore those areas.

The council also seized lorries involved in transporting waste to the illegal dumpsite near Twin Palms.

According to Ong, the illegal dumping at the Twin Palms site is believed to have gone on for close to a decade before it was discovered.

According to a news report last August, solid waste management expert Indrakaran Thambiah Karthigesu was invited by newly elected Kajang assemblyman David Cheong to inspect the site.

Indrakaran said it was crucial to understand the cause of the underground fire to devise a viable solution.

Retired Sungai Long resident Wong Yap Seng, 63 (left), and retired Tropicana Cheras resident Kam Kim Tong, 57, showing the protest sign when posing for photo at the twin palms illegal dump site. - LEW GUAN XI/The Star

He said the fire was likely to be caused by both chemical and physical reactions taking place amid the rubbish buried underground.

“When organic waste decomposes, flammable methane gas is produced,” Indrakaran said.

“When inorganic waste such as construction debris and metals rub against each other in the compressed underground environment, the resulting friction produces heat which then causes the fire.”

To deal with this issue, Indrakaran, who is also a former Sepang Municipal Council (MPSepang) environment and health department director, has two recommendations.

One is attempting to snuff out the fire by putting sand over the surface and wait for the underground fire to burn out by itself, a process which could take years.

Another solution is to instal a system to drain the gas with the use of vertical and horizontal pipes at the site.

This is the same method employed by the Tanjung Dua Belas Sanitary Landfill, in Kuala Langat, that is managed by Worldwide Environment.

“The vertical pipes should be around 20m high from the ground and be planted as deep as the depth of the rubbish underground,” he said.

He said the underground part must be perforated to capture the smoke. The pipes are to be placed 300m to 400m apart from each other.

“This could channel the smoke into the atmosphere so that it is far away from the residents and it could be purified naturally.

“The horizontal pipes, on the other hand, should be installed underground.

“They could channel the leachate produced when the rubbish decomposes into an oxidation pond so that it could be naturally treated by the oxygen there before being discharged into public waterways,” he said.

Indrakaran also said the proposed remedial action would act to provide immediate relief to residents and it would not be cheap.

During a visit to the dumpsite this year, Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad estimated that work to instal such a piping system may cost between RM15mil and RM20mil.

Selangor Department of Environment (DOE) director Nor Aziah Jaafar, who was also present during the visit, said investigation papers had been opened on the underground fire and open burning.

A check at the Hulu Langat District Land Office showed that the illegal dumpsite was located on Malay reserve land under the names of three individuals, each holding a one third share to the property with one of them being named as trustee.

Efforts have been made to trace the owners and records show that the submission by the trustee was registered in 1912.

Based on the date, it is highly unlikely that any of the original owners would still be alive.

However, the yearly tax of RM34 is still being paid by the next of kin of one of the owners.

Records also show a caveat had been put on the land in 2022, preventing it from being sold.

Last Thursday, PDT Hulu Langat said it had successfully identified the next of kin of two of the landowners and had issued a notice ordering them to take action on their lands which were in breach.

MPKj Municipal Services and Health Department director Shariman Mohd Nor claimed illegal dumping activities had been halted at the Sungai Long dumpsite.

During the full board meeting in August last year, then MPKj president Najmuddin Jemain promised that illegal dumpsites would be shut down and monitored closely.

Cheong, who has carried out site visits to several other illegal dumpsites in Kajang as well as attended discussions with Hulu Langat Land and District Office, DOE and MPKj, said he had initiated the process to confiscate the land from its owners.

“We can sue the owners,” he said.

Senior lawyer Ramesh Sivakumar, who has 25 years of experience in corporate and criminal litigation including land matters, said residents could collectively hold the landowners accountable for what had happened.

Ramesh also urged Hulu Langat District and Land Office to investigate and identify the current owners.

“The property owners cannot hide behind the excuse that they have no knowledge of the illegal dumping activity.

“Section 129 of the National Land Code (NLC) prescribes that a piece of land could be confiscated when a breach of condition occurs.

“For example, if a land owner uses agricultural land for non- agricultural purposes, he has breached the condition,” he said.