Maurice Roche this week slammed the County Managers undemocratic decision to overturn the vote of the elected members of Wexford County Council and sign the Waste Management Plan allowing for an incinerator to be constructed in Wexford.
"This situation has arisen out of the Governments complete failure to devise and implement an effective waste management system. It has imposed plans for a network of waste incinerators around the State as its only response to dealing with waste management.
Although the Government have been very aware of widespread public opposition to waste incinerators, due to very real health concerns, it still forced the Waste Management (Amendment) Bill 2000 through the Dáil to take powers over waste management away from the elected representatives of the people on local councils.
The Government have shown a complete lack of imagination in dealing with this problem and have been unwilling to make the main producers of waste pay their fair share or to take on the incinerator business lobby which stands to make huge profits from the establishment and running of a waste industry in Ireland."
"The people of Wexford led the way in preventing Nuclear Power being foisted on Ireland by an unthinking Government and now they must lead the way again and reject any attempts to pollute the air that we breathe with lethal dioxins."
Sinn Féin proposes: -
- A new Zero Waste Strategy that prioritises the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste.
- Halting plans for a network of waste incinerators. These will endanger human health and the environment and will require a constant stream of waste in order to operate, thus working against real waste reduction.
- Legally requiring the main industrial and commercial producers of waste to reduce waste production in a planned and targeted manner.
- A comprehensive strategy for agricultural waste, concentrating on biological treatment of waste in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner.
- Establishing ``recycling and reuse'' enterprises on a community and commercial basis locally and regionally, providing employment and efficient waste management.
- Abolishing local authority refuse charges which penalise the householder. (Household waste accounts only for less than 10 per cent of all solid waste.)
- Reversing the privatisation of local authority refuse services###
