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SCMP Reporter

IT is the world's largest port, but the citizens of Rotterdam will certainly need their reputed aptitude for hard work if the waterfront is to stay ahead of the competition and they are to stay healthy.

  However, according to an official study outlining developments in the port and environment up to 2010, there is no dilemma between increased growth and a better environment for Rotterdam.

  With a total investment of about US$4.7 billion over the next 20 years, expansion of the port and improvement of the living environment can well go hand in hand says the report.

  On the surface it is a soothing message to the city and its surroundings, one of the dirtiest areas in the Netherlands and plagued by a persistent unemployment.

  However, a local environmental group, the Environment Federation of South Holland, has been quick to point out that the study merely provides ''a weak economic plan'' with a ''pale green rim''.

  The group points out that most of the national environmental targets for the region would not be achieved according to the study by industry and environment experts.

  This refers particularly to air and soil pollution as well as the equally unpleasant noise and stench levels in the region, where petrochemical and fertiliser industries are strong.

  The group says these levels are not expected to be reduced to the acceptable norms set by national environmental policy.

  According to the environmental group's spokesperson Arno Steekelenburg, the study has its priorities wrong.

   ''The first priority should have been to reach the environmental targets, but the emphasis here is on the expansion of the port,'' he said.

  He fears that expansion of the port will mean more lorries on the road, and thus more air pollution.

  ''The economy remains central,'' admitted Schilleman Herweijer, chairman of the steering committee that prepared the study, consisting of representatives from national, regional and local authorities and industry.

  But he added that for the first time, a ''comprehensive approach'' was taken in the study, of which the environment is an integral part.

  According to project manager Dirk Jan Schoenmaker, the importance of the study is that the environment has become a priority, even if some of the targets are not reached.

   ''After all, the damage to the environment will go down in the coming years,'' he said.

  And steering committee member Hans van der Vlist warned against the creation of a ''false antithesis''.

   ''The environmental problems are mainly connected with the existing port, not with the expansion,'' he said.

  But for Mr Steekelenburg not only the environmental part of the study is disappointing. He is also critical of the economic analysis that underlies the study and which is largely based on the ''Port Scenario 2010'' by the Rotterdam Port Authority.

  ''Rotterdam should aim at being the cleanest port of the world and stop boasting about it being the largest,'' he said.

   ''If you look at economic growth figures in the Far East, Rotterdam will not be able to retain its position much longer.''   In 1992, the total volume of cargo processed in Rotterdam declined slightly from 292 to 290 million tonnes, but the movement of container cargo increased from 40 to a record 44 million tonnes.

  But according to Mr Steekelenburg the movement of cargo is not a valid yardstick to measure economic development.

   ''The Port Scenario 2010 is fully based on increasing the volume of cargo movement to 400 million tonnes in 2010,'' he said.

  ''We have become the dock-hands of Europe,'' adding that due to its emphasis on cargo movement, Rotterdam is now at a disadvantage compared to European ports like Antwerp and Hamburg, which have invested more in industries to process goods that pass through the ports.

  The study also notes that ''competition between big sea ports has entered a new phase,'' leading to a stronger accent on processing goods that pass through the ports.

   It calls for more investment by Rotterdam in these industries.

  But according to Mr Steekelenburg, these are ''empty phrases'', as no concrete plans are developed to this end. He fears that increasing competition for cargo among European sea ports will cause prices and profits to plummet in the near future.

  Thus, instead of trying to get hold of every load of cargo destined for its European hinterland, Rotterdam should look at other areas of economic development, he said.

  He cites figures to show that port development is not the answer to Rotterdam's most pressing problems - unemployment, especially among its large, often unskilled, migrant population - and environmental degradation.

  According to these figures, employment in Rotterdam port will grow by 3.5 per cent up to 2010, whereas population growth in the region is projected at 15 per cent.



Lifestyle not threatened by port strategy, says report