For adherents of Communism, words said to lull the free nations are one thing, while actions diametrically opposed to the uttered words but deemed to give them an advantage, are another. In fact, the Chinese authorities recently approved a new coal handling facility in Jiangsu province, despite China’s protestations that it is making great efforts not to increase carbon emissions.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission approved the Suzhou Port Taicang Terminal Zone Huaneng Coal Pier Construction Project – in which Huaneng Power International (HPI) owes 66 per cent equity interest with Nanjing Port Management Authority holding 34 per cent.

To undertake this project it is proposed to construct one berth of 100,000dwt and one berth of 50,000dwt for coal discharging, four berths of 5,000dwt each and six berths of 1,000dwt each for loading coal together with the corresponding ancillary facilities, with an aggregate annual through put capacity of 27 million tonnes. This will comprise discharging capabilities of 13 million tonnes and loading capabilities of 14 million tonnes.

According to HPI, the project will provide it with a key coal storage base on the east coast of China and allow it to safeguard coal transhipment and coal storage alongside the sea and Yangtze River. Coal storage, which even on calm days discharges particles into the surroundings, as was witnessed at Marsa when an open coal storage was put up there under a Labour administration with no year round campaigns for its elimination as a health hazard from noxious black dust.

In a statement, the Chinese company said: “Upon completion of the project, it can tap into the competitive advantages of both domestic and international markets for storing and shipping coal to [HPI’s] major power plants in eastern China, and to radiate to other [HPI] power plants along the coastal line, and therefore enhance significantly the company’s ability in ensuring coal supply and reduce the fuel cost and operational risk of the company.”

The facility is also intended to serve as a public terminal for the transhipment, storage and distribution of coal, for both public use and power generation, across the waterway network of the Yangtze River Delta and the areas along the Yangtze River.

Coal would be transported from the north to the south with seagoing vessels entering the Yangtze River. The company said that transport efficacy would be upgraded and the current deficient discharging capability for coal in public piers along the river of Jiangsu Province would be improved with the rationalisation of coal piers in mainland China’s Yangtze River Delta.

I just wonder whether any local Chinese counterpart to Birdlife or Greenpeace will mount any protests against the planned massive environment degradation in this waterway and its surroundings?

G. Bonett

MARSALFORN