Ulster Unionist MLA Tom Elliott has voiced his frustration about the whole process surrounding the tender process which began in 2009 with the Southern Waste Management Partnership (SWaMP) which was a joint venture between 8 councils in the south and west of the Province and has had to be shelved at a cost of £3 million to Northern Ireland taxpayers.

The Fermanagh & South Tyrone MLA, who is also his Party's representative on the Environment Committee, said: "This process has been a very expensive failure, particularly when one considers the huge costs that each council has to pay for waste disposal, often accounting for the largest portion of their budgets that we as ratepayers have to pay.

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"I and others have maintained for a considerable length of time that the entire process was time consuming, inefficient and was doomed to failure. After 3 years and a waste of £3m we now learn that the whole process is to be abandoned.

"Given the large amount of waste that continues to go into landfill in Northern Ireland it is vital that we find a method of waste disposal that will reduce this. There are many options which allow waste to produce energy and I believe we should be actively pursuing such options which would benefit the entire community."

(CD)