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Dr Sarah Liao,
JP
Secretary for the
Environment,
Transport and Works |
In
2003, we continued to make good progress in our work to reduce motor
vehicle emissions. The incentive scheme to encourage taxi owners to
replace their diesel taxis with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) ones
ended in December 2003. 99.8% of our taxis are now LPG ones. We expect
that the remaining ones will be replaced by LPG ones when they reach
the end of their technical life, as first registration of diesel taxis
is no longer allowed under the law. On the other front, nearly 80%
of the newly registered public light buses are LPG ones since we introduced
in 2002 a similar incentive scheme to encourage the early replacement
of existing diesel light buses with ones that are run on cleaner fuels.
Installation of emission reduction device on pre-Euro light diesel
vehicles is now a statutory requirement. The same will happen to pre-Euro
heavy diesel vehicles after the current catalyst retrofit programme
for those vehicles has been completed in 2004. Our enhanced efforts
to reduce motor vehicle emissions over the past few years are bearing
fruits: compared with 1999, the concentrations of particulates and
nitrogen oxides at the roadside had fallen by 13% and 23% respectively
in 2003. The number of smoky vehicles has dropped by over 70%.
We have also made good progress in our joint programme with Guangdong
to improve regional air pollution. A "Regional Air Quality Management
Plan" has been drawn up, and it sets out the enhanced air pollution
control measures that the two governments plan to implement to achieve
the agreed emission reduction targets in respect of the four major
regional air pollutants.
The Harbour Area Treatment Scheme Stage 1 has brought about significant
improvement to the water quality of our harbour. Despite that, we
have to move on with Stage 2 to provide adequate protection to our
harbour in the light of the anticipated growth in population and economic
activities in the HATS catchment. We have already completed the series
of trials and studies relating to the way forward for HATS Stage 2.
We will launch a full-scale public consultation on how to take the
project forward.
In our waste reduction and recycling programme, we are moving forward
towards the Government's waste reduction targets. The recycling rate
of municipal solid waste registered a 5% increase from 36% in 2002
to 41% in 2003, which is the largest yearly increase ever observed.
We have also succeeded in continuing to arrest the growth in municipal
solid waste disposed of at landfills for four consecutive years since
2000, which compares favourably with the 3.5% annual growth rate previously.
In 2003, we introduced a Bill into the Legislative Council for implementation
of a construction waste disposal charging scheme in line with polluter
pays principle and implemented a wet/dry waste sorting pilot programme.
The above is a summary of our major achievements in 2003. Protecting
the environment is a long-term task, and a lot remains to be done.
My colleagues in the Environmental Protection Department and the Environment,
Transport and Works Bureau will continue to work for a better environment
for Hong Kong.
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| Dr
Sarah Liao, JP
Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works |
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