Quote:Garbage problem now at critical level

ACHADTAYA CHUENNIRAN - BKKPost

Phuket _ Hazardous dioxins emitted from the provincial garbage incinerator have been blamed for a rise in cancer cases. Kosol Tang-utai, adviser to the Phuket provincial administration organisation, said the dioxin level in Phuket was 40 times the acceptable standard.

High dioxin exposure was behind the sharp rise in new respiratory and lung cancer cases in men and breast and cervical cancer cases in women.

Dr Kosol said 60 new cases of cervical cancer were reported in Phuket last year. The number of new lung cancer patients was much higher, he said, but did not give a figure.

Rachanee Ameruji, director of the Environmental Quality Promotion Department's public participation office, said lack of efficient waste management was the cause of environmental problems.

The island generated 530 tonnes of garbage a day, while the incinerator could handle only 250 tonnes of waste a day. Leftover garbage was dumped in public places as the only sanitary rubbish dump was full.

Phuket Municipality has set aside 55 million baht for a new landfill, she said.

The waste issue was now critical. With visitor numbers likely to increase by 30% this high season the amount of waste would surge by about 18%.

The amount of garbage generated would rise to about 1,000 tonnes a day over the next three to five years without efficient waste management.

To ease the the burden on the incinerator, a garbage sorting and recycling was being promoted in eight schools and by local administrative bodies, she said. ''The incinerator will work more efficiently if organic waste is sorted,'' Ms Rachanee said.

The provincial administration organisation had set up organic fertiliser production plants to make good use of the organic garbage that makes up 60% of waste.

The target of recycling was glass, which required large amounts of energy to destroy. Construction materials also slowed incineration.

Piriyut Wanapruk, director of the Development of Environment and Energy Foundation, said attempts to solve waste problems had achieved little because although local administration organisations were trying to solve the problem, they were not coordinating their efforts.