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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, on the leachate leakage at the North East New Territories Landfill after attending a public event today (September 4):
Reporter: How are you going to restore public confidence in landfill management? And what actions are you taking against those who are responsible for the leak?
Secretary for the Environment: I think communication is really the key to let the public understand the issue. I have to reiterate that it's the first time that we have this kind of leakage because the so-called lagoon leaked under certain circumstances. We are looking into the problem and we will make a full report in the coming LegCo panel (Legislative Council Panel on Environmental Affairs) meeting. Through that communication, we can minimise the misunderstanding on the issue. In future, we are open-minded and can be more positive to make the relevant announcement earlier than that of last time. Last time, we waited for the water sample testing result. After finding the result exceeding the permitted level, we made the announcement as soon as possible. But in future, if such an accident happens again, even though the chance is very low, we can announce as soon as the incident occurs. So through better communication with the people including the LegCo Members, we hope that people can understand that it is a kind of single incident and we can have a very good management of the landfill sites and that the public confidence can be built.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:11
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