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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, on the proposed landfills extension after attending a radio programme this morning (June 22):
Reporter: Many are still opposing to your proposal, what kind of concessions are you still willing to make?
Secretary for the Environment: I think the so-called "concessions" is to respond to local concerns as far as we can practically do, including the smell concern and air quality, in particular in Tseung Kwan O area. So in our recent announcement, we heightened our measures, including only sending construction waste to Tseung Kwan O landfill. Also, we will invest a big sum to subsidise refuse collection vehicles to retrofit so that the hygiene condition can be improved. We also work with the trade so that the operation hours could be reduced. For instance, during holidays and Sundays, the transport of construction waste to Tseung Kwan O landfill can be stopped, so that local people can have a better time, in particular on Sundays and during holidays. We try to provide measures to respond to local concerns as far as possible.
Reporter: But some say that this is still not good enough, do you have a plan B?
Secretary for the Environment: I think I have mentioned earlier that the proposed three landfills extension is the basic need of Hong Kong and we do not see any other practical options at this time in Hong Kong. So the best response from the Government is to reduce those environment nuisances, in particular to address the smell concern. We fix a very firm commitment in terms of timing, so we would like the local people to understand the situation and consider the overall need of Hong Kong so that we can meet the challenge at this stage.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Saturday, June 22, 2013
Issued at HKT 13:10
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