Villagers in Guilin protest landfill site
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About 800 people in Lingchuan county of Guilin in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region petitioned on Saturday against a planned residential garbage landfill site that is to be located in a local village over concern for the surrounding environment.
The petitioners were primarily inhabitants of Beishan and Shaotian villages in Lingchuan county. About 500 of them were persuaded by local officials to return to their homes, while the rest carried on to the county government in Lingchuan, where they delivered their petition, the county government said late Saturday.
High-ranking officials of the county government attempted to resolve the dispute and 200 of the petitioners then went to the Guilin city government to register the case.
After holding a meeting on the case, the Guilin city authorities requested that city and county officials explain the garbage landfill project to the villagers, China News Service reported.
The site in Beishan village, which covers an area of about 176 mu (11.7 hectares), was chosen in May last year after the matter was studied and on-site visits were made by the relevant departments of the government in Guilin.
According to the government in Lingchuan, all the necessary procedures for the construction of the landfill site were fulfilled. About 82 mu of land (5.5 hectares) was requisitioned and compensation was paid for the land.
In April 2010, however, some villagers in Lingchuan publicized their opposition to the project, voicing their concerns over water and air pollution.
To resolve the conflict and push the project forward, in a notice issued last month the Lingchuan government pledged to ensure the safety of the construction and operation of the landfill site, as well as to answer all the questions raised by the villagers.
The treatment of residential refuse has become a problem for many Chinese cities, with one-third, or 220, out of 660 cities surrounded by trash as a result of inefficient treatment services, according to estimates by the construction ministry in 2006.
Incidents of people opposing the construction of garbage treatment facilities, like incinerators, adjacent to their homes out of environmental concerns have taken place in more than 30 cities over the past two years.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection last month began to solicit public opinion on an overall plan for the disposal of garbage generated by Chinese households.
According to the proposal, 80 percent of the nation's household garbage should receive non-hazardous treatment, rising to 95 percent in 36 major cities by 2015.
The plan recommends landfills for cities with abundant land resources and low-levels of pollution, incinerators for areas where household garbage has higher levels of potential heating value, and bio-degradation for cities with sound garbage recycling systems.
