THE Conservancy Association is disappointed to hear that the Government's intention to reduce the dumping of construction waste in the landfill is further delayed.
The proposal should have been implemented in October 1992 and construction wastes containing 20 per cent or more of inert materials banned from the landfill.
However, the Association was told that construction waste generators are unwilling to separate their rubbish and the regulation could not be implemented.
The Government is going to spend $8.8 billion (1990 price) to construct three large landfills. With two thirds of the landfill space accommodating construction wastes, taxpayers are effectively subsidising construction companies to the tune of about $6 billion. This does not include other costs such as the land price, the environmental costs, and the loss or depreciation of recreational value for areas surrounding landfill sites.
The Conservancy Association advocates the application of the polluter pays principle and in a equitable and consistent manner. It is not fair to subsidise construction companies while the Government plans to collect $4.3 billion for the implementation ofthe first phase of the sewage improvement scheme from the public and the private sector.
Further, it was originally hoped that the three landfills would last for up to 25 years. But even at the current rate of dumping, these landfills will last no longer than 15 years. If the exponential growth of construction waste in the last eight years continues, we will need to find even more landfill sites.
