Editorials

Wonderful enlightenment

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-25 07:53

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.

Nothing was wrong in the Panyu initiative to deal with the increasingly serious garbage problem. Whether through building new landfills, or the planned incinerator, the piling up of waste needs to be taken care of.

Wonderful enlightenment

Globally, incinerators are one of the most popular approaches in waste treatment, though the siting of such facilities is a proven trigger for opposition in concerned communities. The fear of health and environmental risks associated with waste incinerators, that of dioxin release in particular, may have been exaggerated. We have little scientific evidence for that kind of fear indeed. But that does not justify imposing it on an unwilling community.

Among others, the local residents' continuous protests show a worrying lack of communication. And those unhappy encounters may have been effectively avoided had those in charge been this accommodating from the very beginning.

Even if some members of the public have misgivings about the technology, as well as its environmental consequences, it is because they have not been properly informed. It is not their fault. All the trouble derives from the fact that their right to know had not been taken seriously. Full and timely information-sharing is a cost-effective way to reduce resistance. It is good to see local officials have finally come to terms with this simple truth.

Worldwide, the most favored, and at the same time most successful, approach to this common headache has been deliberative democracy. Which means engaging those to be affected in the siting process.

The latest idea of community-wide discussion is a good one. Only that it should have been adopted much earlier. The whole thing may be wonderful enlightenment for the local population. But let us hope it enlightens not just the public.

(China Daily 11/25/2009 page8)