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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Environmental Affairs concluded its five-day duty visit to Seoul, Korea today (April 5).
The delegation leader and Chairman of the Panel on Environmental Affairs, Ms Cyd Ho, described the duty visit as very useful in enabling Members to better understand the experience of Korea in the implementation of waste management policies.
"The Government of Korea promotes and supports waste reduction with land and public funds. It has all along worked with the people and proactively addressed their concern. The HKSAR Government should make reference to the experience of Korea to work in partnership with the civic society and jointly strive for waste reduction," Ms Cyd Ho said.
On its last day of visit in Seoul, the delegation visited the Cheonggye Stream which had been successfully restored into a modern public recreation space in downtown Seoul in 2003. The project involved the removal of an elevated highway of several kilometres. As the project affected the shop owners along the Stream, it met with much political resistance. The former President of Korea, Lee Myung-bak, advocated the restoration of Cheonggye Stream in his Seoul mayor election manifesto, and gained much public support. After he assumed office, he continued to lobby the shop owners for their support and conducted 4 000 discussion sessions with them. In the end, the project could be successfully launched.
The delegation then visited a works project on recycling of construction waste, and the Sudokwon Landfill which is the largest landfill in Korea. Although the capacity of the Landfill can last until 2044, the Government of Korea has already felt the pressure and planned in advance. Hong Kong should also implement comprehensive waste reduction and recycling measures early in order that our landfills will not be overflowed with waste.
The delegation departed Seoul and flew back to Hong Kong in the evening.
Ends/Friday, April 5, 2013
Issued at HKT 23:58
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