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Following is a transcript (English version) of a stand-up by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, today (November 26) after the meeting of LegCo's Panel on Environmental Affairs:
Reporter: A supermarket said it decided to scrap the plastic shopping bags. What's your opinion on that?
Secretary for the Environment: I think I did endorse their initiative of stopping to issue plastic shopping bags. It's unfortunate to see the scheme being curtailed. But obviously, all environmental measures take time and effort to rally public support. I hope it would not be a disillusion and I hope other corporations could maintain the momentum of green initiative. But obviously that also reminds the government that we should be making full preparation when we introduce the Eco-responsibility Bill which will address the problem of the abuse of plastic shopping bags.
Reporter: Do you think it would place any hurdles and affect the government's upcoming plastic bag levy?
Secretary for the Environment: I don't think so. Because when we first initiated the idea, we have consulted the public and also conducted a public survey. There has been quite strong support behind the shopping bag levy as a means to reduce the abuse of plastic shopping bags in Hong Kong. So we will continue to refine our scheme and when we roll out the programme, we hope to secure good support behind it.
Reporter: Any lesson learnt from this?
Secretary for the Environment: The government is committed that this is the right scheme. We are encouraged to see commercial corporations joining hands. But of course in every scheme if it affects the consumers, it would certainly require a lot of preparation.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of SEN's remarks)
Ends/Monday, November 26, 2007
Issued at HKT 19:25
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