I refer to the recent media reports on the Coca-Cola Company's investment of RM1 billion in Malaysia to set up the largest bottling plant in South-East Asia.

Credit should be given to the authorities for convincing the world's largest and leading soft drink company Coco Cola, to invest in the country. The RM1 billion state-of-the-art bottling plant will act as a catalyst to stimulate many more downstream economic activities, apart from creating hundreds of new job opportunities.

It is also heartening to note that the new plant will be the most eco-friendly of plants in this part of the world. I hope Coca-Cola keeps to its word and it will not another window-dressing slogan. The company should ensure that under no circumstances will its operating activities harm the environment or pose a health risk.

I am concerned for the handling of the hundreds of tons of waste (sludge) that will be generated from a plant of this nature. Apparently, an analysis of the sludge generated from a similar Coca-Cola bottling operation in India several years ago revealed high levels of lead and cadmium.

There are several contentious environmental issues related to the operations of such plants that have been hotly debated in and out of the courts in India till today.

As we are already aware, lead is particularly hazardous to children, especially its role in impairing their nervous system. As such, we should be very cautious about this generated waste later.

Reports indicate that the waste (sludge) can be also be used as fertiliser. This is where the trouble brews. Apparently the cadmium in the sludge will be taken up by the bottling plant and this is expected to end up finally in our food chain.

Since cadmium is a known carcinogen, we should ensure that sludge from this giant bottling plant is disposed off safely and does not end up as fertiliser or in any other form or used in other unsafe recycling activities. The authorities should ensure that stringent safeguard measures are in place to prevent the use of this sludge as fertiliser among our farmers.

Although the Coca-Cola Company has vouched to keep its operations as eco-friendly as possible, we urge the relevant authorities to ensure that regular environmental health surveillance and assessments are conducted to monitor their operations. This will help detect any inadvertent discharge of its waste into the environment.

As much as we welcome the setting up of this Coca-Cola bottling plant in the country, we should also be cautious and mindful of the hazardous waste generated from this plant and how it is disposed off.