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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, after attending a special meeting of the Panel on Environmental Affairs of the Legislative Council (LegCo) on environmental infrastructure projects today (March 28):
Reporter: Mr Wong, can the Government listen to lawmakers' requests and separate the four items (extension of three landfills and construction of an incinerator) into separate funding requests?
Secretary for the Environment: I would like to reiterate that there are short to medium needs to handle residual wastes in Hong Kong. For the proposed incinerator in Shek Kwu Chau, the possible completion time would be around 2022, and it would handle only about one-third of our total municipal solid waste. So, before its completion, we still need the landfills to be extended to cater for public hygiene-related issues, I mean waste collection and disposal requirements. This "3+1" (extension of three landfills and construction of an incinerator) proposal is a must for Hong Kong.
Reporter: Mr Wong, when would you be submitting the funding application and how much would be the estimated cost for the "3+1"?
Secretary for the Environment: Details of the funding application have been included in our papers to the LegCo. In terms of timing, we would proceed to the PWSC (Public Works Subcommittee of the LegCo) for discussion in the coming month.
Reporter: Mr Wong, going forward to the landfill extension and incinerator, how would the Government show its commitment to continue recycling and waste reduction?
Secretary for the Environment: As I said earlier, we have issued the waste blueprint that shows our targets and timeline, and also concrete initiatives to be completed within these 10 years. To cite a few examples, we have just expanded the plastic bags levy from supermarkets and chain stores to all the retail outlets. We have got the support from the LegCo members and we are going to implement it in the coming year. This is in line with our blueprint. On top of that, we are talking about glass beverage bottles. We are expanding the recycling network to around 50 per cent coverage for the whole Hong Kong territory. It is also in accordance with our blueprint. These are a few examples. The key is that the Government, the LegCo members and the society should work together to implement what we have said in our blueprint, certainly covering waste reduction at source, food waste reduction and also recycling.
Reporter: ... You are saying that there is no turning back and you must achieve all the four items?
Secretary for the Environment: I said earlier that this is to meet Hong Kong's needs in terms of public hygiene and waste disposal. Many lawmakers are supporting the approach because it is based on a kind of sharing by these areas.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Friday, March 28, 2014
Issued at HKT 16:20
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