To the Editor,
Nanaimo is in danger of being used as Vancouver’s ashtray. I quit smoking several times in my life, and have not lit up for over 20 years, yet my council is considering asking me to breathe smoke from the largest city in the province, because it could make money for Nanaimo to spend on their high salaries and to repair the Colliery dams.
The Regional District of Nanamo has built a terrific recycling program, and we have a 70 per cent landfill diversion rate. We need to keep moving in this direction. If Nanaimo builds an incinerator, the next step would be to reverse the recycling program and put all our waste through the same process, along with Vancouver’s muck.
Nanaimo needs to generate revenue, and we need to be a progressive community with a vision for the future and a thriving tourist industry. We don’t need the stigma of being called Vancouvers’ ashtray, thank you very much.
There is no such thing as a clean garbage incinerator.
Charles ThirkillNanaimo
