The Shenzhen urban administration office last week halted the surveying of land for a garbage station due to protests from nearby residents. The office will have more discussions with residents this week after a meeting last Tuesday.

"We are looking for a better location for the garbage station nearby," said Wang Chengkun, vice director of the house owners' committee of a building complex called Shanshuiju in the Meilin community, Futian District.

The planned garbage station is at the foot of Meilin Hill, 50 meters from Shanshuiju and on the way to a mountain path.

Five workers surveying on site alerted people living in Shanshuiju on Aug. 8, who questioned the legitimacy and judgment of building such a garbage station there.

With support from residents of Shanshuiju and other apartments nearby, Wang compiled a statement opposing construction of the garbage plant and submitted it to the city's urban planning bureau, the urban administration office in Futian District and the appeals office of Futian District government.

The residents are concerned about noise, emissions and leakage of dirty water from garbage trucks. They are also worried about potential air pollution and disease being spread by the garbage.

"What is the ground to plan a garbage station after we have moved in for 10 years掛" they questioned the government in their petition for relocating the station.

Officials and an engineer from the urban administration office in Futian District met representatives of the house owners' committee from six building complexes and some 300 house owners in the Meilin Culture Center last Tuesday.

"They have a wrong concept about the garbage station and know few of our new technology," said a vice director with Futian urban administration authorities who wanted to be identified only by his surname Chen.

The district planned to build 45 advanced garbage stations last year as one of the "10 practical measures to benefit the people." But only four have been completed so far due to resistance from local residents, Chen said.

"The garbage station is 50 meters away from the nearest residential building, far more than the minimum requirement of 10 meters set by the environmental protection bureau," Chen said.

The high-tech garbage stations will follow modern standards of garbage compression and all operations will be undertaken in an enclosed space, said the engineer Jing Liya.

A similar garbage station has been set up in the busy downtown area Huaqiangbei with no complaints from residents there, said Jing.

The government will hold another discussion with representatives of residents this week to decide on whether to resume or relocate, according to the house owners' committee yesterday.

(Shenzhen Daily August 21, 2006)