Crisis of public trust

HAD THERE BEEN PROPER INTERACTION between the Yuhang local government in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and residents, the construction of a garbage incinerator would not have led to a public protest on Saturday. More importantly, proper communication between the local authorities and residents could have prevented the public protest from turning into a riot, in which police vehicles were overturned and torched, and police officers attacked.

This is not the first time that residents have protested against such a project. In 2007, Beijing authorities had to defer plans to build a garbage incinerator because of strong opposition from local residents. The public protest against a P-Xylene project in Maoming city, Guangdong province, in late March also turned violent, in which public facilities were vandalized.

Incineration is considered the most environmentally friendly way of disposing garbage, much safer than landfills, which in most cases contaminate groundwater and soil, and occupy large tracts of land. But some people are not ready to accept this fact. They fear that incinerators will emit hazardous gases harmful to human health, and refuse to be convinced by local governments' reassurances. Perhaps lack of trust in local governments' claims is to blame for this.