New incinerator can be delayed 'if there's less refuse'
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IF SINGAPOREANS can reduce the amount of refuse, the building of the fourth incineration plant can be delayed.
This will mean delaying a hefty investment of about $600 million, said Mr Tan Guong Ching, the Environment Ministry’s (ENV) Permanent Secretary.
He was replying to questions on the Government’s Green Plan to turn Singapore into a model environment city by the year 2000 at a public forum yesterday.
Mr Tan and representatives of six groups which worked out detailed proposals on education, environmental technology, resource conservation, clean technologies, nature conservation and noise answered questions from 200 participants at the forum in the ENV Building.
In response to a question on whether the building of a new incineration plant can be delayed if Singaporeans produce less garbage, Mr Tan said: "Every tonne of refuse saved or recycled will delay the day we need to put up the plant."
At current waste disposal levels, the fourth plant is scheduled to come on line by the year 2000.
A hot topic at the forum was nature conservation.
Several Nature Society (Singapore) members called for the 85-ha Sungei Khatib Bongsu and 120-ha Senoko bird sanctuaries to be conserved. This is in addition to 18 sites identified in the Green Plan.
In reply, Mr Ho Cheok Sun, deputy secretary of the Ministry of National Development, said that the 18 areas already add up to about 3,130 ha, or 5 per cent of Singapore’s total land area.
He said: "We do not disagree that the two sites are valuable, but there are competing land-use demands."
The Senoko site is earmarked for a housing estate.
A proposal that was likely to be incorporated into the Green Plan was the call for the National Parks Board to be made the "custodian’ of the coral reefs and other marine sites, in addition to the nature reserves.
Other issues raised yesterday include:
• The need to guard against the impact of tourism on nature areas. The destruction of the natural heritage at Pulau Ubin by hikers, campers and poachers was raised by one of the participants.
• Encouraging the use of energy-efficient appliances through the Green Labelling Scheme.
• Adopting the "polluter pays" principle to refuse disposal and pollution.
• The need to provide more recycling services and the possibility of government subsidies for private-sector recycling initiatives.
The feedback from the forum and discussions with interest groups will be incorporated into the work groups’ proposals over the next two months before a final report is released in September.
Source : The Straits Times, May 21, 1993
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