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Following is the transcript of the remarks (English portion) by Acting Secretary for the Environment, Dr Kitty Poon, in a meet-the-media session at Central Government Offices today (January 2) on the revised proposal to ban idling vehicles:
Acting Secretary for the Environment: Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d like to inform you that the Government has finalised its revised proposal on banning idling vehicles. We will first consult the transport trades. We have arranged meetings today and tomorrow to discuss the details of the revised proposal (with them). As suggested by the members of the Legislative Council, we will first discuss the revised proposal with them and then submit the revised proposal together with the consultation results to the Panel on Environmental Affairs in the Legislative Council. The Panel on Environmental Affairs will discuss the proposal and the consultation results in mid-January.
We know that banning idling vehicles has been discussed in the community for several years. The Government has strong support from the public to move forward. We hope that we will start the legislative process this year and take an important step forward in the legislative process. Of course we understand that the trades have some concerns over their operational needs. The revised proposal is a result of extensive consultation with the transport trades. The Government has given due consideration to the practical needs of each trade and has made suitable exemptions in response to their demands. We have arranged meetings today and tomorrow to discuss the details (with them). Together we will submit the results to the Panel on Environmental Affairs in mid-January.
Reporter: What are the exemptions?
Acting Secretary for the Environment: We understand there are operational needs from the transport trades. We have considered their practical needs in the proposal. The proposal is the result of extensive consultation with the trades. The Government has given due consideration to their demands. We believe that the revised proposal is a fine balance between the public’s demand for better quality of air and the operational needs of the transport trades.
Reporter: What sort of penalised measures...?
Acting Secretary for the Environment: The penalised measures have been listed in the (earlier consultation) report. The meetings today and tomorrow mostly will focus on the exemption areas.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Friday, January 2, 2009
Issued at HKT 15:48
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