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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, on the incinerator proposal after attending the Islands District Council meeting today (December 16):
Reporter: ... Since there is quite a lot of opposition, do you expect to have as tough a fight fighting for this incinerator as you did for the landfill expansions?
Secretary for the Environment: The local opinion is about the waste-related infrastructure is understandable, but I think we have to get a balance. On the one hand, as stated in our blueprint, we do need to invest on the waste-to-energy infrastructure for short- and long-term benefits, and actually it is for the need of Hong Kong in order to reduce our landfill dependence. So it is very important for us to have the first step to invest more on the waste-to-energy facility. For this Shek Kwu Chau case, it has been studied for a long time, around 10 to 20 years, and so we have to seize the opportunity and to kick-start the project as soon as possible. You know, the project will take about seven years from commencement to completion, so we have to make the decision as soon as possible. So our proposal is to let the society and LegCo have the review and decision early next year, so that we can implement our blueprint accordingly.
Reporter: Can you explain why the Shek Kwu Chau site was chosen when the consultancy report appeared to suggest that it wasn't the best site?
Secretary for the Environment: Firstly, the 2008 consultancy report aimed to propose two sites for further engineering and EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) study. Secondly, there were other reports in 2011 and 2012 going through the town planning process. So, all these would provide further information for us to choose the site. Finally, the Government would like to have a kind of balanced distribution of all these infrastructures. You can see that we have landfills in the eastern and northern parts of the New Territories, and also we have two facilities from waste-to-energy to landfill in the western part of the New Territories. So, to have a balanced distribution we are having these positions. But I have to stress that, as stated earlier, probably we need more waste-to-energy infrastructure in the long run, so we will have more sites to be located suitably over the territory. I think we have to see in this context.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Monday, December 16, 2013
Issued at HKT 19:29
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