Public hearings planned over controversial garbage disposal project in S China

Environment authority of south China's Guangdong Province said Tuesday it would hold public hearings over the construction of a planned garbage incinerator project that had aroused strong protest from local residents.

"We plan to hold public hearings after the project contractor submits environment assessment report," Li Qing, director of the provincial administration of environmental protection, told a press conference in Guangzhou on Monday.

The results of the assessment will also be made public to solicit opinions, he said.

Su Zequn, executive vice mayor of Guangzhou, had promised that the project would not be started if it fails to pass environmental assessment or if it is opposed by the majority of residents.

The plan to build a massive garbage incinerator in Panyu District of Guangzhou, the provincial capital, has triggered public protests over the past months. People demanded the local authorities to scrap the planned project that would release carcinogens into the air.

More than 1,000 residents even gathered outside a government office building last month, appealing for getting involved in the decision-making process.

The incinerator, which proponents want to build in Huijiang village of Panyu, in the Pearl River Delta, will be capable of handling around 2,000 tons of garbage a day.

Local authorities said such a facility is sorely needed as the city, with a population of more than 10 million, generates up to 12,000 tonnes of household garbage each day, and Guangzhou will face a huge garbage crisis in two years if new waste treatment facilities are not built.

The province produces more than 27 million tonnes of garbage each year, and many places are facing tough tasks in garbage treatment, said Li.

But residents were seriously concerned about health risks as villagers near another garbage incinerator in Baiyuan District of Guangzhou had confirmed more than 50 deaths from cancer after its operation.

Li also announced that measures, including industrial and auto waste treatment and oil and gas recycling, will be taken in three years in the Pearl River Delta to purify the air and improve the environment.

Source:Xinhua