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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, during a stand-up session on the pilot scheme on municipal solid waste charging today (April 7):
Reporter: Mr Wong, if we focus on the pilot scheme, it is really just other logistic arrangement rather than people's feeling to participate because they are going to get the money back anyway. Also, the real difficulty, I guess, of the pilot scheme is for the buildings which don't have owners' corporations. Will you consider extending the scheme to those buildings as well?
Secretary for the Environment: As I said earlier, this is the first step for us to have the pilot testing. We are focusing on the majority of residential environment, that is, high-rise housing estates with estate management. That can represent around 80 or 90 per cent of housing stock in Hong Kong. Even with this context, we can foresee challenges in implementing the trial scheme. So we would like to take it as the first step. As I said earlier, we would consider expanding the trial scheme or have trials in different sectors in future. This six-month trial scheme will be our step one.
Reporter: How about the logistic question? Is it more about the logistics than the charging levels?
Secretary for the Environment: The trial scheme is to test out the logistics and also what are the supporting facilities in need, and what are the responses of residents in relation to the quantity-based charging. It is to find out how the residents would react to the quantity-based charging scheme.
Reporter: Can we have one more English question? On the data, how would that be analysed? On what basis for you deem which charging method is the best successful to record with?
Secretary for the Environment: I would like to say that we are not going to judge whether the trial scheme is successful or not. The pilot scheme is to objectively find out what are the situations or outcomes based on different methods. Those data will be objectively shared with the Council for Sustainable Development so that when they compile their overall recommendations to the government, they can not only base on their earlier consultation feedback, but also on this solid experience collected. With this basis, they can make more objective and holistic recommendations to the government later.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Monday, April 7, 2014
Issued at HKT 21:07
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