DUMPING OF TOXIC WASTE IN BANGKOK

5. To ask the Minister for the Environment what is the outcome of his Ministry's investigation into allegations that toxic waste had been shipped from Singapore and dumped at Bangkok's Klong Toey port.

Mr Chew Heng Ching (Kaki Bukit): Question No. 5.

The Minister for the Environment (Dr Ahmad Mattar): Mr Speaker, Sir, it must be said at the outset that the allegations were only reported in the Thai press and we do not have accurate information from any other source. The Thai press reported that the alleged shipments took place between 1981 and 1983, which is more than five years ago and detailed records are no longer available.

We have, however, examined what we believe were the Bills of Lading relating to the shipment. The Bills of Lading indicated that there was a Thai company that had purchased the materials consigned and letters of credit had been issued to the Thai company by Thai banks. The Bills of Lading do not support the case of a blind shipment of toxic waste from a factory in Singapore to a fictitious company in Thailand as the foreign reports had made it out to be.

Sir, Singapore is also a re-export and transhipment centre. There is reason to believe, from the Bills of Lading, that the drums and their contents have been either transhipped or re-exported from Singapore. We do not know what the contents of the drums really are, but the Bills of Lading describe them as silicone, which is a non-toxic stable compound used in adhesives, and Nisol Brightener, which is a compound used to achieve a bright finish in nickel plating.

From the information we have, there is no evidence to say that the drums contained toxic waste from factories in Singapore shipped out to fictitious addresses in Thailand. I might also add that the Ministry of the Environment does not condone any dumping of toxic waste in foreign countries by local companies. There are sufficient waste disposal facilities in Singapore for us to deal with our own waste.

Dr Ang Kok Peng (Buona Vista): Sir, I would like to ask the Minister what measures is his Ministry taking to monitor and prevent the illegal dumping of toxic waste in Singapore, and what is the penalty for a toxic waste dumping offence?

Dr Ahmad Mattar: Mr Speaker, Sir, my Ministry has a policy of requiring factories using toxic materials to set up in-house plants to treat their own toxic wastes. These factories are required to operate these plants to acceptable standards. The treated liquid effluent is discharged into our sewers and finally undergoes treatment at our sewage treatment works. Solid residues from these plants are buried under controlled conditions at our dumping grounds.

There are also plants in Singapore which recover and re-cycle toxic waste materials, eg, solvents and oils. These are plants approved by my Ministry and factories which do not have in-house treatment plants of their own are allowed to send their toxic wastes to these plants for treatment. Again, Sir, solid residues from these plants are buried under controlled conditions at our dumping grounds.

The Pollution Control Department of my Ministry inspects all these factories with in-house treatment plants once a month and those factories which are found not to be operating satisfactorily are of course inspected more frequently. At these inspections, samples of treated effluent are taken and analyzed and if they are not found to be satisfactory the factories concerned will be told that they have to do something about it.

With regard to penalty, Sir, section 108 of the Environmental Public Health Act says:

'Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this Act shall be guilty of an offence and where no penalty is expressly provided shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction to a fine not exceeding $4,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both.'

But more seriously, Sir, if the guilty person has polluted our inland waters, eg, rivers, reservoirs and so on, he can be charged under the Water Pollution Control and Drainage Act. If found guilty the penalty is $10,000 or imprisonment not exceeding six months or both. For a second or subsequent conviction, the penalty is $20,000 and an imprisonment term of not more than a year.

Mr Tan Soo Khoon (Alexandra): Sir, have there been any known cases of illegal dumping of toxic waste in Singapore in recent years?

Dr Ahmad Mattar: The answer is no, Sir, because with adequate treatment and disposal facilities available in Singapore I see no reason why factories in Singapore should dump their waste illegally. Besides, the penalties are fairly severe.