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Press Release
PSE and ACE members visit Regional Air Quality Monitoring Network
The Permanent Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works (Environment), Mr K K Kwok, and members of the Advisory Council on the Environment (ACE) today (November 23) visited Guangdong to see the operation of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Regional Air Quality Monitoring Network.
The delegation visited the monitoring station at the roof-top of Panyu Wanqingsha Secondary School as well as the Central Data Management and Reporting Centre of the PRD Regional Air Quality Monitoring Network and the Quality Assurance Laboratory located at the Office of Guangdong Province Environmental Protection Monitoring Centre in Guangzhou.
Officials of the Guangdong Province Environmental Protection Monitoring Centre briefed the delegation on the operation of the Network and the progress of the preparations for reporting to the public the PRD Regional Air Quality Index (RAQI).
The delegation was pleased to see the quality of the work in setting up the monitoring stations and their smooth operation, and were encouraged by the success in our cross-boundary cooperation and the determination of both sides to join hands in tackling the regional air pollution issue.
Speaking after the visit, Mr Kwok said, "the establishment of the Network is a major achievement under the PRD Regional Air Quality Management Plan being implemented by the two places."
"The Network will provide comprehensive and accurate information on air quality in the PRD region, which helps the two places to better analyse and tackle the regional air pollution issue," he added.
The Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, and the Governor of Guangdong Province, Mr Huang Huahua, agreed at the Eighth Plenary of the Hong Kong/Guangdong Co-operation Joint Conference on September 28 to make preparations for reporting to the public the RAQI on a daily basis by the end of the year, so that residents of both places could have more information about the region's air quality. The information on the RAQI will then be available at the website of the Environmental Protection of Guangdong Province http://www.gdepb.gov.cn or the website of the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department http://www.epd.gov.hk.
"We will continue to co-operate with Guangdong in carrying out the measures to improve the air quality in the PRD region with a view to achieving the 2010 emission reduction targets announced by the two governments in April 2002," Mr Kwok said.
The Network has been set up in accordance with the PRD Regional Air Quality Management Plan agreed by the two governments in 2003. It comprises 16 monitoring stations, 13 of which are in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, Shunde, Huiyang, Panyu and Conghua, and three in Tsuen Wan, Tung Chung and Tap Mun of Hong Kong.
The RAQI in five gradings is to show the level of the total major pollutants in the ambient air. The higher the grading, the more serious the pollution will be. As for the Network, the major air pollutants will include respirable suspended particulates, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone.
End/ November 23, 2005 (Wednesday)
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