SINGAPORE: Singapore is expected to announce development plans for its offshore landfill during a global congress that will be held here from November 3 to 6.

The masterplan for the Semakau Landfill includes test-bedding environmental technologies and increasing its use for educational purposes.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said Minister of Environment and Water Resources, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, will reveal the plans at the congress.

The International Solid Waste Association Congress, themed “East Meets Waste”, will focus on challenges Asian cities face in dealing with waste management as they urbanise and grow their economy.

It will be held at Suntec City and is expected to attract over 800 delegates from more than 60 countries.

The inaugural 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) Packaging Awards will also be presented at the congress to deserving signatories who have succeeded in reducing packaging waste.

Piles of rubbish are thrown out every day in Singapore, amounting to 15,280 tonnes of waste last year, enough to fill about 600 football fields.

The solid waste industry is big business in Singapore and around the world. The sector is worth about S$1 billion and this is expected to grow as Singaporeans produce more waste every day.

The present global financial crisis, however, could cause a temporary setback.

Lee Yuen Hee, CEO of NEA, said: “Waste is a more long-term issue. Once the crisis is over and countries resume their economic growth, governments will have to continue to invest in waste management infrastructure.”

At a news conference on Monday, organisers said the congress will be the first in Southeast Asia.

Harald Kloeden, chairman, Organising Committee, International Solid Waste Association Congress, said: “The biggest reason is that Asian markets here and environmental issues are strong growing.

“Singapore is a very good example for all the countries around… Singapore and this congress can showcase what are the newest technologies, what are the newest solutions to tackle our environmental problems.”

Participants will visit sites like the Tuas Incineration Plant and the Marina Barrage to learn from Singapore’s practices and to network.

- CNA/so

Channel News Asia

BEIJING: China announced Wednesday limits for how much melamine its dairy products can contain, seeking to curb the use of the chemical which has killed four children and sickened 53,000.

The maximum amount of melamine allowed in baby formula is one milligram per kilogram, said Wang Xuening, deputy director general of the health ministry’s health supervision bureau.

For liquid milk and other dairy products the limit is 2.5 milligrams per kilogramme, he told a briefing in Beijing.

“Melamine is not a food raw material, and it’s also not a food additive. We prohibit people adding it to food items. Cases where melamine has been added to food will be investigated according to law,” he said.

Melamine is an industrial chemical used for producing plastic, but when added to milk, it makes it look richer in protein than it really is.

Officials at the briefing did not say directly how the new legally allowed amount of melamine may come to be in the dairy products.

But Chen Junshi, a senior researcher at the National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety, pointed out that the chemical was often used in packaging used for food products.

A World Health Organisation expert also said this week that melamine could be found in food due to accidental contamination through product packaging or through contact with certain surfaces during the manufacturing process.

Some fertilisers, which are rarely used, also contain melamine, which could then be the source of traces found in food products, WHO expert Peter Ben Embarek told AFP in Geneva this week.

He said that many parts of the world, including the European Union, Hong Kong and New Zealand, set limits for melamine in food products only very recently.

This is because the chemical was not considered a substance found in food before the milk scandal broke out in China.

“There are billions of chemical products that normally should not be found in food - it is therefore impossible to fix a limit for all the chemicals,” Embarek said

- AFP/yb

Channel News Asia

Customs Department deputy director (narcotics) Mohd Subri Awang (left) showing the water heater where his officers found the ketamine

NILAI: Customs Department officers seized RM1.4 million worth of ketamine and Eramin-5 pills in three incidents at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang over the recent festive season.

In the first incident, a 42-year-old man from India was arrested at the KLIA arrival hall on Oct 4 for attempting to smuggle in ketamine which was stuffed inside a water heater.

The man had arrived onboard a Malaysia Airlines flight from Mumbai at 7.15am and was stopped by Customs officers acting on a tip-off.

They searched his bags and, after cutting a hole in the water heater’s cylinder, they found white powder which was later identified as ketamine.

Customs Department dep-uty director (narcotics) Mohd Subri Awang said officers suspected something was amiss as the water heater was very heavy.
“The water heater weighed about 18kg and though nothing was detected when it went through the scanners, the officers were alert and managed to discover the ketamine, which is worth about RM635,000.

“When officers dismantled the heater and cut a hole in the cylinder, they found a copper container inside.

“Initial investigations revealed that this was not the suspect’s first visit to Malaysia as his passport shows that he was a frequent traveller.

“We believe he had knowledge of the contents in his luggage and could have contacts here,” he said, adding that this was the first incident this year involving drugs found stuffed in a water heater.

Subri said, in the two other incidents, 39,000 Eramin-5 pills worth RM780,000 were seized at the KLIA mail courier centre on Sept 26 and 28 respectively.

He said checks revealed that the first 19,000 pills were packed into several “fine oat flakes” packages from Taiwan and addressed to a location in Johor which did not exist.

The second batch of 20,000 pills were also packed into the same food packaging, using the same modus operandi.

“The food packaging, which included boxes of biscuits, were wrapped in different types of wrapping paper to confuse officers.

“When our officers opened the packaging, it contained Eramin-5.

“Each pill can be sold at RM20 in the market and is more popularly used by city folk.

“These pills have the same effect as syabu. We have previously also seized pills which were packed in tea bags and flour packages.”

He said those with information on similar cases would receive a reward and should contact the Customs toll-free line at 1-800-88-8855 or the Narcotics office’s direct line at 06-7917792/7587.

So far, the department has seized RM14 million worth of drugs in 23 cases this year.

New Straits Times