Take Action Now!

Greetings from the GAIA Secretariat.

Za Zemiata (For the Earth), a GAIA member in Bulgaria, appeals to your organization to SIGN ON to the attached NGO Open Letter to the European Commission (EC) and the Government of Bulgaria that seeks a change in policy in the financing of waste management projects within the country.

As you will read in the NGO Open Letter, the Government of Bulgaria has applied for funds to build the National Center for Hazardous Waste Treatment, which includes incineration as a disposal option, under the EC Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA). ISPA, for your information, is an EC instrument to help 10 Central European candidate countries to adopt to the environmental and transport conditions in view of accession.

The NGO Open Letter calls upon ISPA to:

• Assist projects aimed at preventing waste generation at source.
• Support the development of market for secondary raw materials recovery and recycling.
• Use environmentally safe, non-incineration waste treatment technologies.
• Take into account - as a precondition - the participation of NGOs and local communities at all stages of project planning and implementation.

In this regard, we request that your kind organization endorse the stated NGO Open Letter. If you agree to add your name, please e-mail Za Zemiata (zemiata@iterra.net) and the GAIA Secretariat (gaia.sec@surfshop.net.ph) before 1 SEPTEMBER 2001. Please provide us with the full name of your official whose name will appear in the NGO Open Letter and her/his designation in your organization.

We thank you very much for helping Ze Zamiata and the people of Bulgaria.

Best wishes.
Manny C. Calonzo