Wonderful enlightenment

The pledge by local authorities in Guangdong that construction of a proposed trash incinerator would not start until it passes environmental evaluation, or if the majority in the local community share strong opposition, sounds reassuring and reasonable.

Now the authorities can let out a sigh of relief. They have finally found the way out of an otherwise insolvable conundrum. So do residents of the Panyu district of Guangzhou. At least they are said to have been given the final say over the contentious infrastructure.

While expressing our best wishes for the promised six-month community-wide discourse, we would like to recommend the authorities in Panyu, as well as their counterparts across the country, to reflect on the dramatic episode. After all, the apparently happy ending did not come until things were threatening to get really thorny.