A planned garbage incinerator project in south China's Guangzhou City was suspended due to counterviews of the public in the process of environment assessment, local authorities said Monday.

"The incinerator project was called off because of local residents' strong disagreement during the public hearings, an important part of the environment assessment," said Tan Yinghua, secretary of Guangzhou's Panyu District Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Tan made the remarks in a meeting with more than 100 local residents to discuss solutions for garbage disposal.

Last month, hundreds of local residents worrying about health risks took to the streets to protest against the garbage incinerator project planned to be set up at a former landfill in Huijiang Village.

The environment authorities of Guangdong Province launched in early December a public discussion over the location and construction of the project.

"All the new projects about garbage disposal have to get agreement from more than 75 percent of local residents," Tan said. "The discussion will continue until the mid 2010."

Most attendees to the meeting prefered garbage classification.

The Panyu District is home to 2.5 million people and almost 600,000 tonnes of household garbage are created every year. It is predicted that 2,200 tonnes of household garbage will be created every day next year in the district, said Ye Wen, deputy director of the Panyu District Bureau of Urban Planning and Landscaping.

"After the public discussion, we will promote garbage classification," said Tan. "The pilot operations have begun in two residential zones and a primary school."

"We'll get the consensus among citizens, government and experts before selecting a new location for the project and before construction begins."