Reuters AlertNet Lite - China invites rare public debate on chemical plant

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China invites rare public debate on chemical plant

06 Dec 2007 04:36:26 GMT
Source: Reuters

BEIJING, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The Chinese city of Xiamen has sought public comment on the future of a planned chemical plant in a rare invitation that comes months after mass demonstrations against the project.

China has been struggling to control environmental pollution, a consequence of decades of unchecked economic growth, not only to curb degradation and reduce source waste, but also because pollution has become a trigger for social unrest.

An environmental assessment of plans to build a plant in to make paraxylene, a petrochemical used in polyester and fabrics, was complete and the public would have 10 days to submit opinions, the city government said on its Web site (www.xm.gov.cn).

The local government and the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, which conducted the assessment, would "go through all channels to broadly listen to citizens opinions and suggestions about the environmental assessment report", the Xiamen Evening News reported.

Notices on the Xiamen Web site also advised citizens to go online or to a local library to learn more about the assessment.

Xiamen is a prosperous coastal city in China's southeastern province of Fujian.

In June, protesters, who numbered 20,000 at their peak, had demanded the government scrap, not just put off, its plans for the plant, saying it threatened the city's environment and residents' health.

"We will treat the opinions and suggestions collected through public participation in an objective, fair and comprehensive way," Xinhua news agency quoted Li Yanwu, of the research academy, as telling a news conference in Xiamen.

"As to whether a suggestion is accepted or not, we will give explanations ...," he said.

The June protests, news of which spread by mobile phone text message, prompted environmental officials in Beijing to admonish the local government for not taking seriously the importance of assessments, saying such attitudes could cause "chaos".

State media reports suggested that the research academy gave a relatively negative assessment of the project.

The local government had set two targets for the Haicang, the Xiamen district where the plant was to be located: to develop the area as a sub-centre of the city, and to create an industrial zone focused on the chemical industry.

But the environment research academy had advised city planners to chose one or the other, saying that if it decided to build an industrial zone it must demolish residences and relocate citizens, Xinhua said.

(Reporting by Lindsay Beck, editing by Nick Macfie and Sanjeev Miglani)

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Last updated:Thu Dec 6 04:43:02 2007