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Hong
Kong becomes more environmentally conscious
"Hong
Kong people are now much more aware of environmental problems
and are expecting something to be done about them", the
Director of Environmental Protection, Mr Rob Law said today
(Tuesday).
Speaking at a press conference to review his department's
work in 1998, he said the increased public awareness was reflected
in the number of pollution complaints received by the EPD,
which had been rising rapidly over the last five years.
The number
of investigations and prosecutions carried out by the EPD
had also been increasing and the total level of fines for
pollution offences had risen quite dramatically over the last
few years, with more than $20 million in fines being handed
down for each of the last two years.
However,
Mr Law said he would like to see much higher fines handed
down by the courts.
"The
average level of fine is still only around $16,000, which
is not much for a company to pay and is little incentive for
people to obey the law."
Mr Law
said the Pollution Complaint Hot Lines and One Stop Shop advice
services provided at each of the six Local Control Offices
had achieved excellent satisfaction ratings from their customers.
"Last
year an independent survey was conducted to assess the satisfaction
level of our customers with our hot line and "One Stop
Shop" services. For most categories of service the satisfaction
ratings exceeded 90%."
When highlighting
some of the more significant achievements in 1998, Mr Law
said the implementation of the Environmental Impact Assessment
Ordinance had received wide acclaim from international experts
and environmental authorities in many other countries.
"This
is one of the most comprehensive and sophisticated pieces
of legislation of its kind in the world.
"We
are now equipped with a very effective and efficient tool
to ensure that all the potential environmental aspects of
new projects are properly addressed. The legislation also
provides the necessary powers to ensure that all recommended
mitigation measures are properly implemented for the life
of the project," he said.
Another
major achievement was the new requirement for all government
departments and policy bureaus to publish an annual report
on their environmental performance, Mr Law said.
"I
believe this is a very powerful and important initiative.
Having to develop and publish their own environmental policies,
and also to subject their environmental performance to public
scrutiny, will cause many of the departments and bureaus to
re-think their approach to dealing with the environment.
In line
with the latest agreement under the international Basel convention,
Mr Law said, Hong Kong introduced a complete ban on the importation
into Hong Kong of hazardous materials from developed countries.
"The
ban also applies to hazardous waste being shipped from developed
countries to developing countries through Hong Kong,"
he added.
On waste
disposal, Mr Law said the Waste Reduction Framework Plan was
published and the Waste Reduction Committee launched very
recently.
"The
committee's membership is almost entirely from the private
sector and I believe this partnership with the private sector
will allow for a much more practical and effective attack
on our growing waste problems in Hong Kong."
In relation
to the air pollution problems, Mr Law said the Chief Executive
had announced in his policy address that all new taxis must
use LPG from the end of next year. All existing diesel taxis
should also be phased out and replaced by LPG vehicles within
five years.
End/Tuesday,
February 23, 1999
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