Dare to dream. But you may have to watch out when you wake up! The waste to energy project of Gamma Energy ? a joint venture between Gamma Civic Ltd and Covanta Energy ? continues to arouse passions. The company is striving to convince everyone that its project is the best one available for Mauritius while inhabitants of Roches-Brunes and the surroundings have got together in the Social Movement of Roches-Brunes to point at the many risks of such a project and to say no to the plant.

Gamma held a debate on its project at the invitation of the University of Mauritius yesterday afternoon. ?We acknowledge that this technology is a new concept in Mauritius and it is normal that it raises apprehensions and concern from the population. We welcome all questions and find it positive that responsible citizens are asking them. It is their right to know,? said the managing director of Gamma, Tommy Ah-Teck, in his introduction. So, the avowed objective of this debate was to reassure the public and see what they had to say. But it was also an opportunity to try and convince the audience and the public in general of the ?many benefits of such a project for the country?.

Gamma Energy has already received a letter of intent from the Board of Investment for their La Chaumière Waste to Energy project. It intends to invest about Rs 5 billion in a plant that will manage 300,000 tons of municipal solid waste to provide approximately 20 MW of energy, which corresponds to 6 % of Mauritius? needs. ?This project addresses two national issues- waste disposal and renewable energy,? Tommy Ah-Teck pointed out.

According to him, incineration is the favoured means of waste management in countries with limited territories like Mauritius. Singapore, Taiwan and the Netherlands are among the countries making the most use of incineration. ?During a trip to Singapore in September 2005, we attended a conference on renewable energy and, as from that moment, it became obvious to us that waste to energy was the solution to landfill problems,? commented the managing director of the company.

There is no doubt that landfills like the one in Mare-Chicose bring with them a certain number of hazards like leaking of leachate into groundwater supplies, methane emissions that contribute to global warming, noxious odours and birds transmitting diseases.

Known to be carcinogenic

On the other hand, the Covanta Environmental Adviser, Shaun Knight, pointed at the many benefits of the incineration project, particularly to the environment. The reduction of greenhouse gases and the avoidance of methane were among them.

The main problem of the Gamma project ? which is at present much debated all over the world ? concerns its emission of dioxins and furans, which are known to be carcinogenic. This is the main concern of the Social Movement of Roches-Brunes. ?They want to set up an incinerator with potential risks in the middle of a residential area but we want to go on living in a healthy environment,? commented the leader of the movement, Gilbert Cadet. They have written a letter to the ministry of the Environment with a copy to the Prime minister?s office asking the government to stop the project.

Iqbal Bhugun, a doctor in chemistry and an inhabitant of the region, made it clear that the Gamma project would create ?three sorts of pollutants: wastewater, leachates and gases?. The most dangerous ones ? dioxin and furans ? are among the gases produced and are supposed to be prohibited in Mauritius. ?Mauritius signed the Stockholm protocol where it is clearly stipulated that dioxin and furans should not be produced,? he pointed out. ?They assert that they are going to control the emission of such gases. How will this be possible? We do not have any accredited laboratory to measure such a small dose of gas in Mauritius? How independent will these tests be if they do it themselves?? he wondered.

Even though Gamma points out that dioxin is not only produced through the waste to energy process but through any incomplete combustion, Dr Bhugun made it clear that ?dioxin can?t be produced if there is no chlorine in the process. With bagasse for instance, there is little chance that chlorine will be part of the process. However, waste contains all sorts of substances including chlorine and this makes the incineration more dangerous?. It is true that Gamma said it would pre-sort waste before incineration ? even though it should be the government?s responsibility before it comes to the factory ? but what guarantee will there be? ?Is it worth taking so many risks for 6 % of our electricity?? wonders the association. It seems to be only the beginning of a lengthy controversy?