I welcome the recent announcement by the government that it will invite international tenders to build a modern and safe incinerator to cater for the ever increasing solid waste generated in Kuala Lumpur.

It is about time the authorities look into this direction of building incinerators wherever practical to get rid of the solid waste that is generated in the country.

Contrary to what some people believe, sanitary landfills are not environment-friendly and hygienic.

It does cause pollution to the local environment apart from taking up many acres of land which could be better utilized for the benefit of the people.

Landfills are turning out to be stinking time bombs and the safest way of disposing of this waste is to simply incinerate it.

Landfills are well known for their obvious leachate contamination of groundwater.

News of major drinking water disruption due the dangerous level of contamination of leachate from landfills in the country is not uncommon.

Landfills is said to be one of the major green house gas (methane) generators due to decaying organic waste.

This methane gas is said to have the ability to trap 20 times more heat from the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. The methane gas that is emitted in our landfills is many times more potent than CO2.

Methane gas can also pose serious health risks to the surrounding inhabitants.

There are a host of other issues such as odor, vermin, noise pollution, etc, which have been attributed to the operation of landfills and open dumpsites.

The very act of burying many hundreds of tonnes of solid waste underground is so ancient and a waste of landmass. The waste is going to stay mummified and intact for hundreds of years posing a risk to our future generation.

Due to the nature of its "contents" landfills will remain a problem during its operation and also after its closure for many years.

It's time we gradually do away with this old fashioned method of solid waste disposal and embrace the modern disposal of garbage with the high-tech eco-friendly incinerators available in the market.

State-of-the-art incinerators have come far enough to lessen pollution to a minimum and they are safe, cheap and easy to operate. The new age sanitary incinerators are used everywhere in Europe and in many parts of the US and Japan.

These ultra modern incinerators are designed such that all harmful emissions can be removed through filters and scrubbers that recirculate the emissions back into the incinerator.

Hazardous emissions (dioxin, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen, oxides of sulfur, lead, etc.) can be mitigated with modern air pollution control technologies and more importantly can generate energy to power our homes and industries.

In Vienna, Austria, there is a solid waste incinerator plant at Spittelau, Fernwarme Wein, located right smack in the city with a mixed neighbourhood, burning away tonnes of solid waste 24/7 without any fuss or protest from the folks living there.

It must be pointed out that the open burning of garbage in our backyard is also contributing to the pollution of the environment. The pollution of these poisonous gases are only measured in micrograms (one millionth of a gram).

However the modern state -of- art incinerators in the market these days are designed such that their emissions of poisonous gases including dioxin and furans can be detected in picograms (one trillionth of a gram).

A one minute burning of our garbage in our backyard or dumb site is actually polluting about one million times more yearly to the environment compared to a tightly restricted modern incinerator. As such incinerators are good alternatives to open burning and the use of landfills.

Although I welcome the building of incinerators to dispose of our garbage it is important the authorities continue to give due considerations to genuine concerns raised by the public.

It is understandable and expected for certain sections of the community who are not familiar with the modern day incinerators to view it as a human and environmental health threat.

The authorities should continue to engage the public to allay their fears and clear any misconceptions surrounding the building of incinerators.