Aerial view of smoke caused by an underground fire at a hill near the Twin Palms residential area. — Filepic
KAJANG Municipal Council (MPKj) will spend RM50,000 to control the peat fires near the Twin Palms residential area in Bandar Sungai Long, Selangor before Chinese New Year.
The local council made the decision during a full board meeting following nearby residents’ complaints of smoke emitting from the site again.
MPKj president Nazli Md Taib said RM400,000 had been spent to date to put out the fire, but because of unfavourable weather conditions and soil movements, the fire seemed to have reignited.
“We have decided to spend another RM50,000 to put out the fire by Feb 10 as a short-term measure,” he said, adding that they would look for funds for a long-term fire mitigation plan.
StarMetro reported on the matter numerous times, with the last report on Oct 30 last year in the article “Fuming over stench on smoky dumpsite”.
The part of the hill involved was private land used as an illegal dumpsite in past years.
Although the illegal dumping has stopped, the accumulated waste is causing the underground fire.
MPKj was made aware of the matter in 2015 and has been trying to stop the fire.
Nazli said three landowners were involved and they had been given letter of demand to recover the money that the local council had spent so far to solve the issue.
“They claim not to have the means to clear the land. As it is private property, the Federal Government cannot fund such efforts.
“It will be much easier if the landowners hand over the land to the government, so that we can rehabilitate the hill,” he suggested.
Nazli said the last resort would be for the government to acquire the land but it would take time.
It was also reported that solid waste management expert Indrakaran Thambiah Karthigesu had given two recommendations to stop the fire.
He suggested pouring sand over the surface and waiting for the fire to burn out, which would take years, or installing pipes to drain out the methane gas from the site away from human dwelling, which would provide immediate relief but would be expensive.
Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad had estimated that work to instal such a pipe system could cost between RM15mil and RM20mil.
