So true. :(

You've written it all. To readers - please, FWD the URL of this post to more people.

Wow.. nice post.. u covered all the aspects of the subject matter..

Well.. about the traffic jam in port-louis, i have a "potential solution" on which i am working..

How ever i belive that all the alternatives you suggested are very "possible"

I hope our dear Acteur - 7.30 reads this..

WOW, this post really depicts all the facets of POLLUTION :)

Cheers mate,

P.S shah is right, this article should indeed to shared to the world ;)

You write better than intellectual journalists ;)

Wow nice article man. As everyone said i say it again all points covered. I think Mr Aston Martin should read blogs more often and learn.

That was long, well researched topic, with multimedia. good work.
i reckon there is a lot to be done before we get the maurice ile durable title.
though it start with ourselves, the leaders of this country should take the initiative and campaign about it. i think u shud forward this link to the minister of environment's email :D

@Sun
Looking forward to your post.

@Sailesh @Avish
Thanks. ;)

@Yudz
Had to check the Ministry page to know who's the Minister. I guess he isn't as active on TV as his predecessor. :)

Unfortunately in the paradise island, some 10years of consultancy are needed to take some decision.
For instance, experts from all over the world came for the metro leger thing, and what was the final decision?
A bus lane!
LOL!

Anyway, if such experts are not brought to the island,then how will there be cases of "detournement" or bribes given to the authorities and ministers so that their projects are accepted!

Plastic packaging should be banned.
Status : slowly but surely on the right track.

People should start sorting their wastes right at home (plastic/organic/metals)
Status : I think that an eco friendly organisation (in curepipe if am not mistaken_ has a few bin containers which have different sections for plastic, metals etc.

Electronic stuffs should be processed for parts that can be recycled
Status : *cough* *cough*
We haven't reached this stage yet.

Organic wastes (from sewage) can be used to produce methane gas.
Status : Currently done in Mauritius by a few people.

I would like to add something to your article:
"How will Mauritius progress if a large number of the scholarship takers fly away?"
And once they are away, you will hear them say "I miss Mauritius!"
F*ck!
I really have something against them since its our money!

@Yashvin
LOL... no need to deviate from the topic. :P
The amount of money "donated" to these laureates is pretty trivial compared to what the ministers "earn" from the different useless projects - like this one.
As for the brain drain... hey we're still here! ;)

& BTW they are still assessing that bus lane... o_O

It's great that these ideas are already being applied at a personal/community level. But only a large-scale implementation will make a real impact.
& that's still a few years away.

nice one
keep it up

i won't take electric cars as the best alternative for personal transport. i think that hydrogen fuel would be much better.
its autonomy is much longer. and also its more adapted to current lifestyle of travelling.
though, it does cost quite a bit to produce hydrogen...

@Muzzammil
Yeah, hydrogen as fuel is not viable because it costs too much to produce (in terms of money & carbon footprint) & we don't have enough resources to power the whole world with hydrogen (mine the moon?).
However hydrogen fuel cell is one possibility. :)

the carbon footprint n nuclear waste of current electricity production is not so low.

I wonder how the Government can accept such a deal when in fact we are paying the promoter twice..once to process the waste then again to buy electricity!And our wastes are not even sorted and I wonder again how is Gamma-Covanta going to control what they are burning.

It might also be that they will filter all smokes coming from the incinerator..BUT WHO IS GOING TO MONITOR THE QUALITY OF THE SMOKE!!

As we all know we have legislation about everything in Mauritius but nothing is ever enforced!
Just like for those laureates mentioned by some1 above..there is legislation and bonds that should be paid if they don't come back to the island but no one ever pays anything..

So i dont think there will be proper monitoring of the smoke quality and standards as such.

@Anonymous
Yes, I forgot to mention this in the post - the electricity will be sold at a HIGHER RATE to the CEB. What a great deal! :(

As for the smoke monitoring, do the MOE even have qualified personnel & equipment to detect all the substances? I doubt it. Gamma-Covanta being such a controversial project, it would require permanent air quality monitoring equipment. :(

Off-topic: To the owner of themediaguru , i would just like to point out that you free custom subdomain themediaguru.co.cc , will expire in less than one year , and will thereafter become a paid service , this is a new surreptitious policy adopted by the co.cc providers .

Regards, Matthieu

@MattsCafe
WTF? :(
Just googled it & found out that they make you pay an amount according to the popularity of your domain. :@
Anyway, thanks for informing me...

hello

Do you happen to have a softcopy of the EIA report of the Gamma-Covanta WTE project?

Regards
yashini

@Yashini
There's a list of EIA reports on the Ministry of Environment site (link).
Except there's no Gamma-Covanta report there. :s

Well I think you certainly enlightened me on all the aspects of the subject matter, great post to read, thanks

What about the govt placing more emphasis on private-owned vehicles (aka the 'family car') rather than investing for the long term on a modern, fast & robust public transport system?
I still can't picture Mauritians discarding their craze for cars... yes we envy what cra_ps out of our Parabole/Canal+ programs.

Wonderful post! Sad I missed it earlier. Great man!

I totally agree that there still so many questions which are not answered. I don't want to add another killing machine in the already so polluted planet. There are so many other ways to recycle the wastes.

Great post and as Shah said forward it to more contacts.
Correct me if im wrong, but recently the first Hybrid car was sold in Mauritius and the price is over RS 1.5M. Is that a fact? So there is no will from the government to promote Hybrid vehicles then.
Thanks Kurt avish for directing me to the blog

@Kazak
I don't know the exact price, but the hybrids are not duty-free - only 50% if I'm not wrong.
The government should remove all taxes from hybrids, which will probably lead to a price less than Rs 1 million. :)

Nice post mate. Anyone knows what happened to the law formulated to ban the use of plastic bags in Mauritius, and to use only 20 micron ones?? Heard that supermarkets will stop using plastic bags as from 2010? I was to the supermarket today only, and i was amazed to hear from the cashier that despite the disposition of eco-friendly recycled paper bags, customers continued to ask for plastic ones, when both were at the same price!! So it also comes to mentality of the population as a whole. I think that more agressive sensibilization campaign should be undertaken at this very stage

@Anonmyous
I've been looking at the acts & there are no such thing as banning plastic bags (link - http://bit.ly/GZWSy)
According to legislation, plastic bags should be degradable & no less than 20 microns. That's it. :|
Yes, I think putting a price tag on the plastic bags had a short-term effect, but after a while, it's back to normal - no one refrains from paying for the plastic bags! Much more should be done! :(

A well-presented series of statements. Sadly, through, the disinterest of the Public in Mauritius and procrastination by the Government the project will be given free reign to proceed despite the objections. The web pages about this Incineration Project in Mauritius are many with the majority based on its Environmental unacceptability and its unsustainability.
Waste quantities from municipal sources across the world falling by around 2% a year regardless of increased recycling initiatives. The residual waste in Mauritius contains a large quantity of water, it cannot be burnt in incineration plants, it absorbs energy so the benefit of making renewable energy from the process is lessened. The promoters will need to add fuel to assist the process by using coal.
The residues from the process will be both gases and solid (clinker or dust) both subject of concerns raised by the Anti-Incineration Groups in Mauritius and World-Wide. The basic tenets of these is need for Caution particularly as Human Life (or any other Life) is at risk. Whilst emissions of dioxins furans and POPs are small the Bioaccumulation magnifies way beyond the permits so that the effects in pregnant women and foetuses and young infants is substantial. These products adhere and bond to DNA and during growth replicated many billions of times in development. (Imagine a fertilised human egg just two cells replicating itself in the 9 months from conception to a small baby; now imagine how the adsorption of these to DNA replicates this to birth weight and beyond! Is it any wonder why the emissions from such plants can change the sex of fishes! Is it any wonder therefore why those who propose such facilities put them in the poorest neighbourhoods major cities and urban areas? Think about it, and now you can see why the people of Broga Malaysia objected, and the others across the World as in Mauritius Malta Dublin Philippines and Mexico also do!
However let’s come down to some basics here in Mauritius. The offer to the Government of Mauritius cannot be Afforded. It is not the Government paying for this it is the Tax Payers paying. They are the financiers to the Government and they should remember this! The Government are Stewards of the Public Finances given mandate by the Electorate to Manage the Finances for and on behalf of the People. This project is one which is too costly for the Tax Payers.
The annual increase in the quantity of waste in Mauritius has begun to slow down and this is the same for incineration. The quantity of Recyclable materials being extracted has increased resulting in a lower base load of waste destined for treatment. We see that the cost has gone up and is going up further to allow for higher emission control and disposal costs of the toxic residues. We note the output of electricity from this plant is much less than 'anticipated' because of the water content of the part left after recycling and may be only 6MW not the 24MW given. The only way to make up this deficit is to add coal and that would then increase the Emission problem. The Gate Fee for treatment proposed is exceedingly high at US$39-00 per tonne as this 50% water it need be no higher than $19-50! The subsidy for Electricity will cost the Tax Payers a premium for 35 years and beyond without review.
This proposal is Environmentally Unacceptable and Unaffordable, and the Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam knows this. We hear that there are valid proposals around to convert the Residual Waste from Mauritius to make Biofuel Ethanol for transport (in Viet Nam Yorkshire Holland Kentucky) at a third the cost of incineration and it would not penalise Tax Payers for the next 35 years.
Mr Prime Minister you and your Government must act to cancel the project and ask this other Company to put forward a tenable programme based upon Waste to Biofuel. Your credentials and esteem in the eye of the Public would benefit tremendously and you could justifiably claim back the prestigious acclaim for Mauritius to be a leading Green Country.

@Geraldine
Waste-to-biofuel or bio-gas is indeed a more sustainable way to reduce our mostly organic wastes.

website to be circulated to understand the "Evidences Against Waste Incineration in Mauritius" is: www.incinerationmauritius.com

Has the Government of Mauritius been alerted to this intervention about using the Biomass? Who are the activists that are making the run here.
Karol

I do not know why Covanta is still around proposing this idiotic process for Mauritius. It won't work and all that will happen is the Tax Payers in Mauritius will foot the bill.
They have been rumbled in Cheshire as being wholly not suited to work on projects like this. Someone should tell the Government.

Interesting to note that even Covanta are looking at converting Biomass to manufacture the Biofuels like Ethanol.

Does this now mean that they have the right message for Mauritius? And does this now mean that what Kaol/Geraldine refer to in the note earlier will be the option chosen? Perhaps the Government of Mauritius in their current enquiry will take note of this development and we will get a proper review.

This issue about waste treatment in Mauritius must be addressed rationally. I would therefore like to add a few comments.

If there is a need to provide an environmentally safe and affordable solution to the management and treatment of Municipal Solid Waste in Mauritius then how about starting from scratch again.

The evidence of the Government in Mauritius suggests that even though there is a large quantity of Municipal Solid Waste collected in Mauritius up to half of this could be separated and recycled. That being the case the remainder would almost certainly consist of biodegradable materials. What are the options for managing and treating this residue?

In all the evidence given about the potential solutions to treating this residue - which is in fact biodegradable and loosely called biomass (or ligno-cellulose) the suggestions as to the most affordable solution has missed the one which is so obvious. That solution is to convert this biomass to the fuel for transport namely ethanol. Such a proposal would be sufficiently robust in its own right to be capable of standing alone with treatment costs that would be competitive against land fill costs. In other words it would not need subsiding as the incineration proposal will. Furthermore with the revenue saved from using the renewable fuel Ethanol the Country would be able to reduce its dependence on importing oil by a significant amount year in and year out.

There are proposals being discussed for Mauritius by a Company we have heard of which if it was built would not require any investment at all from the Government of Mauritius for its financial case is so strong that it would pay for itself within 5 years through the sale of Ethanol fuel at World market rates.

What surprises me is that the Country has not picked up on this information more is the pity. The information is out there and if someone in the Government of Mauritius was to give a reply and a contact number with an email number which can be verified we will respond.

It is a travesty of logic that in the UN-SOLICITED BID proffered by the proposed service provider for the treatment of waste in Mauritius that the proposed service provider is now running rings around the Government of Mauritius (who are allegedly looking after the Common Good of the People of Mauritius) by continually updating their proposed solution knowing full well that they have been disingenuous with their proposal from the outset.

Their forte in their original proposal was that they would make over 20 MW of electricity from a guaranteed throughput of MSW This is a vexed issue for Mauritius and must not be under-estimated for the following reasons.

The so-called requirement which has always been mooted around by the proposed service provider for a guaranteed supply of MSW per year of 300,000 tonnes was to be under-written by the Government in a PUT OR PAY clause that would pay the service provider a minimum of US$ 12,900,000 income per year equivalent for treating MSW. Consider what this means! Suppose that the MSW stream entering the facility was to drop to 100,000 tonnes per year (this is very much a reality in a 10 year horizon and will almost certainly occurs in a 35 year contracted period here in this contract) in line with the Zero-Waste-at-Source maxims now being followed across the World by many countries. This means that the company would be paid again hard-earned Tax-Payers money.

But it doesn’t stop there: they would also be paid for producing 20MW of electricity even if it only produced 7MW of electricity. Then it would give away from Mauritius US$ 22,800,000 per year of guaranteed income.

These are not small sums! The proposed service provider would be receiving an extra of at least US$ 15 million per year extra income from Mauritius for the duration of the contract over 35 years or $585 million.

And you thought also that it stopped there, sorry you are wrong! Because the MSW is so wet (having a moisture/water content of up to 54% it will produce a residue stream of around 30% by weight of the total input waste stream (which on the 300,000 tonnes per annum would mean 90,000 tonnes per year for disposal. This would be the most toxic fraction of the waste it would need storing in a PROSCRIBED Land Fill Site to be found and managed solely for this purpose. As Land Fill sites are difficult to come by in Mauritius buying and managing a new one will cause upset and if one could be found the disposal costs for storage of this Toxic and Carcinogenic Waste will be at least four times that of a traditional Land fill site. It would cost a further US$ 11.61 million a year to the Tax Payers in Mauritius..

You will see therefore that this is more than a single reason to decline the acceptance of such a proposal for Mauritius and the charge against the Government of Mauritius and the Ministry to with-hold a permit on this proposal is totally founded.

So what should be done?

You have shown that Mauritius can make electricity from true Renewable Dry Resources wind wave photo-voltaic systems etc.. There is more than one style of sea-turbines available and those currently being developed in Northern Ireland in Strangford Lough offer the most promising as they can be strung out between Wind Turbines at sea!

You must address this and bring it to the attention of the appellants in the Court Battle about this with immediate address. An alternative treatment system based on turning the waste in to the biofuel ethanol (as in the UK Holland and Finland) or to make the methane (more problematic by digestion plants although some are being abandoned) or compost is still around. Your posts look as though ethanol is best. Making it from Non-Food sources (MSW and Sea-weed Macro-algal plants (grown in the sea and farmed) would introduce new employment to Mauritius making it a Jewel in the Indian Ocean producing Bio which could avoid it importing Oil altogether within 8 years! What a turnaround that would be.

So now we hear that the Lies submitted by the potential provider of an incineration facility for Mauritius have been exposed.

Firstly the bid presented to the Mauritius Government was Un-Solicited and the basic question must be asked "Who invited the company to make the bid? What kick-backs are being given to the persons making the request?

1] The quantity of waste will be expected to decrease with time and therefore although the current waste is 1219 tonnes per day (445,240 tonnes per year) that even if the suggested 300,000 tonnes per year minimum take was opted for by the Government as being ''the put or pay'' base load requested then with the $43 per tonne treatment fee the guaranteed revenue will be $12,900,000 per year even if (as it is more than likely) the quantity of waste produced dropped to 200,000 tonnes per year! Who in their right minds in any Government would allow this to happen? This is a one sided issue that only favours the service contractor.

2] The net calorific value of the waste (which we all knew about going back to 1996) is so low that the quantity of electrical energy likely to be produced from the incineration proposal is now likely to be limited to 7MW on a continuous basis from the 300,000 tonnes of MSW incinerated per year (a figure verified by all the experts in the industry including the World Bank) compared to the proposers 20MW. This means that the proposer will be claiming for electricity from the Mauritius Government at (say) $00.15 per kWh equal to $26,300,000 a year irrespective of the actual quantity ever likely to be produced from the facility. This is a one sided issue that also only favours the service contractor.


3] With the resultant production of a toxic ash residue now expected to be 30% of the total waste destined for treatment (again confirmed by experts across the world) the Government of Mauritius will be forced to build and store this material for an indefinite period. The average costs for storing this highly toxic residue is generally reckoned to be $200 per tonne – or $18,000,000 per year - and therefore the question has to be raised who is providing this facility and who is bearing the costs? It ought to be the company but it sounds as though in this instance it will be the Government.
This does not sound right

So now we know that the company will be charging $39,200,000 per year for the operations of this proposed facility year in year out even if the total quantity of waste reduced to zero tonnes per year. And further more they are obviating the additional costs of $18,000,000 per year for passing the buck on storage of the toxic residues to the Government.

Effectively this means that the people of Mauritius will be charged $57,200,000 per year minimum for the service of an incineration proposal which they do not want, and which as Carol said here could be done more cost-effectively by turning the waste in to a biofuel ethanol.

ORGANIC WASTE CONVERTER

We will arrange to take up the operation and will interact with the residents for source segregation and the segregated waste will be transferred to OWC room by the housekeeping staff.

http://vennarorganic.com/