Kaohsiung City residents began using a new five-hectare recreation center yesterday -- which was built to appease residents who have been forced to live near a waste incinerator.
At the recreation center's opening ceremony yesterday, Kaohsiung City Mayor Frank Hsieh (
The NT$320 million recreation center is located in Kaohsiung's Hsiaokang District.
To help take their minds off of living near the waste incinerator, residents will be able to enjoy an indoor swimming pool and play in outdoor areas for tennis, basketball and skating, among other activities.
A `bribe' for support
In addition, officials said, the recreation center will also serve as a community college by offering educational workshops.
If residents were unhappy about living close to the plant, there were musicians, high school cheer squads and clowns on hand at yesterday's ceremony to help cheer them up.
"In addition to the recreation center, residents will be also compensated NT$54 million annually," Hsieh said.
The mayor, who is also the chairman of the DPP, said that residents' support yesterday was evidence that they had accepted the waste incinerator into their neighborhood.
But not everyone was happy with the bargain. Though the new center might be a nice addition to the community, it does little to address the problems that the waste incinerator poses to health of the community, environmentalists said yesterday.
"It's a trick to bribe local residents," said George Cheng (鄭益明), executive general of Taiwan Watch Institute.
"Money should have been spent on monitoring the performance of waste incinerators to ensure residents' health."
Vehement opposition
The waste processing plant is designed to treat as much as 1,800 tonnes of household garbage a day. Local residents had vehemently opposed the plant before it was completed on Jan. 20 last year.
Residents have also targeted a waste incinerator in the Sanmin District, which began operations in April 1998.
To appease residents, the city built a recreation center, which offers free services to residents who are living within 2km of the incinerator.
In addition, residents receive NT$27 million annually in compensation.
Kaohsiung's two municipal incinerators were necessary to make up for the closure of city's 48-hectare landfill, which operated for 22 years.
The large capacity of the incinerators has led to fears that the plants will wind up burning industrial waste or garbage imported from outside the city.
The total daily capacity of the two incinerators is 2,700 tonnes, while the city's 1.4 million residents produce just 1,800 tonnes of garbage per day, according to 1998 statistics.
There are no rules on the books preventing the city from burning industrial waste or garbage for other cities or counties.
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