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Letter to the Editor of the South China Morning Post dated 6 July 2004 - Enforcement actions
I would like to respond to your reader's letter headlined "Prosecute polluters" published on 1.7.2004 and another one headlined "Enforce pollution law" appearing on 2.7.2004.
Water pollution in Victoria Harbour is mainly attributable to local pollution sources. The protection of our harbour requires not only vigorous enforcement of pollution control legislation but also proper treatment of local sewage before discharging it into the harbour. In this connection, the Water Pollution Control Ordinance (WPCO) was enacted in 1980 to provide the statutory regulatory framework, and the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS) has been developed and implemented in stages to provide proper sewage collection, treatment and disposal for areas on both sides of our harbour to improve the harbour water quality.
Since the implementation of the WPCO, staff of the Environmental Protection Department have conducted extensive surveys to identify sources of water pollution and vigorously enforced the law through licensing control of wastewater discharges. For those dischargers violating the licence requirements or discharging pollutants into the environment indiscriminately, prosecution actions have been taken against them. The following is a summary of the prosecution statistics for recent years.
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2001 |
199 |
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2002 |
133 |
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2003 |
69 |
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Jan-May 2004 |
32 |
The number of WPCO prosecutions has been on a decreasing trend over the past few years. This is partly due to our vigorous enforcement in previous years and partly due to the efforts made under the various partnership programmes with the industrial and commercial sectors. Those partnership programmes have greatly helped promote the environmental awareness and self-regulation of dischargers, and improve their compliance with environmental requirements.
Water quality of our harbour has improved substantially as a result of the above regulatory efforts as well as the completion of Stage 1 of the HATS. Since the full commissioning of HATS Stage 1 in late 2001, the average dissolved oxygen level in the harbour waters has increased by 10%, whereas the average ammonia level and the bacteria content have dropped by 25% and 50% respectively. Much more, however, still needs to be done in terms of sewage collection, treatment and disposal in order to further improve the harbour to a more natural and healthier condition. The Government is therefore conducting a public consultation programme on our recommended way forward for Stage 2 of HATS with a view to forging a consensus within the community and then taking forward the project as soon as possible.
Concerning the control of idling vehicles, the Government is well aware that vehicles with their engines idling can cause nuisance to pedestrians and shops nearby. The Government has taken reference from overseas regulatory practices. As a matter of fact, only a small number of cities have legislated against idling engines. The authorities concerned give out advice rather than taking prosecutions. In one of the places, the regulation allows idling engines when the ambient temperature is above 27 degrees Celsius. If that is applied to Hong Kong, no restriction will be applied during most days in the summer months when most drivers keep their engines idling to maintain the air-conditioning. We have to be mindful that if engine idling is made an offence, many drivers may simply choose to circulate on the road rather than switching off their engines. Since a moving vehicle will generate more emissions than one with its engine idling, more pollutants may be emitted into the air as a result. After extensive consultation, we believe it would be more effective to promote driver's willingness to habitually switch off their vehicles while waiting.
To encourage drivers to switch off idling engines, we have prepared and issued guidelines to all sectors of the transport trade and launched a series of promotional campaigns to encourage drivers to switch off idling engines.
We would continue making our best efforts in controlling pollution.
Mike CHIU
Assistant Director (Local Control)
for Director of Environmental Protection
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