Handle eco-protests with care

The recent clash between Yuhang residents and government officials, including police officers, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, once again highlighted the need for a transparent communication channel between local governments and residents. The public protest against a garbage incinerator in Yuhang turned violent with some of the protesters attacking policemen and overturning and torching government vehicles. To ease the tense situation in Yuhang, ensure that people in other cities do not follow Yuhang's example and to win back public trust, the authorities need to invite a qualified non-governmental "third party" to determine whether garbage incinerators are harmful or not for nearby residents, say an article in China Business News. Excerpts:

Like many other environmental protests in China, the Yuhang incident was also the result of residents' "not in my backyard" attitude toward garbage incinerators because of their lack of trust in the local government. Many people, including police officers, were injured in the Yuhang violence, and 53 suspects have been detained with more being wanted for their role in the riot.

Right after the incident, the Hangzhou local government pledged that the garbage incinerator would not be built until legal procedures are completed and a majority of the residents lend their support to the project.

What has surprised many observers is the urgency with which the local government wanted to push through the incinerator project and the selfishness of some residents who welcomed it as long as it did not come up in their neighborhood.

But the fact remains that, despite being entitled to express their demand for or protest against a particular project, people have no right to resort to violence. Moreover, people should also understand that the scrapping or suspension of beneficial public projects, such as garbage incinerators and PX (paraxylene) plants, in the country actually harms public interests.

Three major questions have emerged from the Yuhang incident and await answers. First, do all garbage incinerators that local governments have built (or want to build) meet the national environmental safety standards and can these standards truly protect residents' health? Second, how can local governments win back the trust of residents who are seemingly opposed to every environment-related project? And third, what is the best way to ensure that a public project serves the interests of all the people involved?

According to the construction details of the now-suspended project in Yuhang, the garbage incinerator was to use the most advanced incineration and exhaust gas emission technologies in the world, cutting down the dioxin emission level to one-tenth of the national standard. If the figures are accurate, the local government has to make the residents understand their significance and convince them that it will take all measures to protect their health.

The lack of people's trust in the local government also calls for the presence of a neutral third party during the government's negotiation with residents to resolve the issue. Many people doubt local governments' claims on minimum environmental risks in public projects because in many cases the plans reveal officials' desperation to get them through. Worse, the involvement of incompetent and corrupt local officials in implementing environmental regulations strengthen people's resolve to oppose any project that they have doubts on.

To ensure that all sides are benefited, the authorities should strictly apply environmental safety standards to and implement eco-friendly regulations in every public project right from the planning stage. In addition, they should invite a non-governmental third party to discuss the environmental risk factors in public projects such as waste incinerators. More important, the authorities have to be transparent in the assessment of projects, explain their advantages and disadvantages, and keep the public posted on the developments.

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