£62,000,000

THE Guernsey Press can today reveal the true cost of the States dithering over a new incinerator plant: £62m. The lost years and wasted opportunities place a burden of more than £1,000 on everyone living in the island.

Even on the most conservative costings, the States has thrown away more than £20m. Factor in the expense of lost landfill and the bill for inaction rises by a further £39m.

The multi-millions have been wasted by the States' decision in 2004 to go back to the drawing board just days before the £80m. contract was due to be signed for an incinerator at Longue Hougue.

The Dadd report that resulted from Deputy Scott Ogier's successful move to halt development on the incinerator gave a lot of hope - of waste reduction, of new technology and a new contract.

But alternative technologies have not arrived in time and long-term options of export and sharing a plant with Jersey have been abandoned.

In addition, consultant Enviros has endorsed data used to calculate the predictions behind the original plant size.

Now recycling will need to be ramped up more quickly because there is not the luxury of using the landfill space that was lost as investigations went on.

So by the end of the plant's life, it will still have to deal with 70,000 tonnes of waste annually.

And after all the extra investigations, Environment is still going to the States in January with a report that favours incineration.

The breakdown of the delay is:

n Consultants' fees for the Dadd report and Enviros - about £250,000.

n Work resulting from the aborted contract with Lurgi - £5.5m., but taking into account staff and administration expenditure while all this work had been ongoing, direct costs hit £6m.

n Building a similar incinerator today would need up to £15m. more.

There are then two more major losses - landfill life and electricity production.

To preserve what is set to be lost in landfill life between now and 2012 would require £39m. in export - based on 50,000 tonnes going to Mont Cuet this year and export at around £130 per tonne.

Environment declined to comment on that figure but did confirm a further loss - ungenerated electricity. The Lurgi plant would have been producing 4MW sold at about 2.5p per KW/h. Over the next six years, that would be £4.8m.

Requete supporters now have to pin their hopes on amendments to the waste plan opening up other options.