23 May

A  proposal  to  set  up  more  waste-to-energy plants and in-cinerators in Yangon, and other regions and states, to produce electricity  was  debated  at  the  Pyithu Hluttaw.

The  proposal  was  submit-ted by U Nyan Lin of Shwepyitha constituency.

In  his  proposal,  the  MP  stated  that  to  reduce  and  pre-vent the environmental damage caused  by  garbage,  the  gov-ernment must construct more waste-to-energy  plants,  which  can generate 760 KW of power. He  urged  the  government  to  build  incinerators  which  can  handle  over  2,000  tons  of  gar-bage per day in Yangon, and at least 60 tons of garbage per day in the regions and states.

Daw Cho Cho Win of Maw-laik constituency seconded the proposal,  stating  that  it  would  ensure  electricity  production,  environmental  conservation,  production  of  fertilizers,  and  resolution of land problems re-lated to garbage.

In response to the propos-al, Member of the Nay Pyi Taw Council  U  Nyi  Tun  said  there  weren’t  enough  funds  for  han-dling garbages in Kayah State, Kayin  State,  Chin  State,  Bago  Region,  Magway  Region,  and  Rakhine  State  to  establish  waste-to-energy plants and in-cinators.

In  Sagaing  Region,  plans  are under way to build a plant with  Japanese  technology,  he  said.

In  Dawei,  Taninthayi  Re-gion, which produces about 60 tons  of  garbage  per  day,  a  lo-cal voluntary group is working with  the  Development  Affairs  Department to dump garbage, such as plastic, tin, and paper, after reducing its size, he said.

Plans  are  under  way  to  build a furnace to burn plastic waste, he added.

In  Mon  State,  the  state  government and Finland-based BIOKOSKI Ltd have  signed  a  Memorandum  of  Understand-ing  to  establish  a waste-to-en-ergy  plant  to  burn  garbage  sourced  from  Mudon, Kyeik-mayaw, Chaungzon, and Paung townships in the state, he said.

Mandalay  Region  has  im-plemented a garbage manage-ment system and will carry out an  assessment  for  building  a  waste-to-energy plant, he said.

Big cities such as  PyinOoL-win, Bagan, NyaungU, Kyaukse, and Pyawbwe are practicing a semi-aerobic  landfill  system,  with  Japanese  technology,    to  limit  environmental  damage,  he  added.  A  locally  made  fur-nace  will  become  operational  in Myittha in the 2019-2020 fiscal year, he said.

The  Nay  Pyi  Taw  Coun-cil  Area  produces  250  tons  of  garbage  every  day,  which  is  dumped  at  designated  places  in Pobbathiri, Lewe, and Tatkon townships, he said.

The  government  would  consider  a  long-term  plan  for  waste-to-energy  plants  as  the  investment  for  such  plants  is  high,  and  there  is  still  enough  land  available  for  continuing  with the controlled landfill sys-tem  for  disposing  garbage,  he  said.

He  said  waste-to-energy  plants are suitable for Yangon, Mandalay,  and  other  cities,  which are facing difficulties with the  controlled  landfill  system.  But,  the  system  is  suitable  for  other cities which have enough space to be able to balance the financial aspects. Pyithu Hlut-taw  Speaker  U  Khun  Myat  sought  remarks  from  MP  U  Nyan  Lin,  who  submitted  the  proposal,  and  announced  that  the  proposal  would  be  put  on  record. The 12th session of Py-ithu  Hluttaw  regular  meeting  will  be  held  on  24  May.—Aye  Aye Thant (MNA)

(Translated by GNLM)