Lighten up with a sludge farm jaunt

Sick of the mind-numbing jargon? Fed up with the never-ending, but never happening promises to cut tariff barriers? Not up to the dialogue in the "open dialogue on regional economic integration"?

Escape is at hand for politicians and officials desperate for a break from the torture of this week's upcoming merry-go-round of Apec meetings in the Japanese city of Yokohama.

Conference delegates have only to wave their accreditation cards and a seat will be found for them on the next bus leaving on what must be one of the more unusual self-promotion exercises by a city hosting the annual Asia-Pacific trade and economic talkfest.

It does not involve geisha girls or late-night whisky sessions in Tokyo's bars.

It is a free afternoon tour of a local sewage and water treatment plant.

Or, if you want to make a day of it, two sewage plants plus a side-trip to the Nissan Stadium, the venue for the 2002 soccer World Cup final, where you can witness the beneficial effect of the end-product on grass growth.

Yokohama boasts the leading technological edge in such matters, and as the brochure says "this is your chance to see it for yourself".

Whether its sewage sludge or the latest piece of "smart energy" technology, Yokohama is selling itself as the "clean and green' capital of Japan, with city authorities carbon offsetting the amount of hot air created by delegates in the convention centre and neighbouring hotels over the week

At times, however, the message is getting a trifle mixed.

Cyclists have been told bikes cluttering the city's pavements will be removed because they "spoil the appearance of the city".

As always when Apec comes to town - with presidents and prime ministers - proceedings are cloaked in a vast security umbrella somewhat at odds with what has been a propaganda blitz on local residents to welcome the thousands of delegates.

About 21,000 police have been drafted into the port city to protect a venue which, being surrounded by high-rise buildings and shopping arcades, is not considered ideal.

Japanese government officials are reportedly worried about accounts of people building home-made explosive devices from plans obtained from internet sites.

Police have accordingly been removing potential hiding place like rubbish bins.

Shops are already reporting a drop-off in business, which is likely to fall even further as words gets around that cars are being checked, while pedestrians are being quizzed on what they are doing in the conference area.

All this jars with a months-old pro-Apec publicity campaign to enthuse locals. That has included a self-explanatory "Smile Project" , including a large mosaic of faces of locals, photographed, well, smiling.

But Japanese thoroughness has induced a kind of "you will enjoy Apec or else" mentality. In such a climate, slipping away for a few hours to the sludge farm starts to have some attraction.