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should be designed to have the best of natural landscape integration to induce feeling of peace and tranquility. Existing eye-sores of barren hill-slopes created by old cemeteries should be remedied by a greening programme within a stipulated time.
Abattoirs in urban areas, being visual nightmares to nearby high-rise residents should be relocated wherever possible. Humanitarian consideration should also be given to animals who supply us the high protein food. It has been said that cows, pigs and goats are animals possessing various degrees of intelligence and there were reports how they weep, cry and knelt down for mercy and refuse to join the death parade as soon as they have smelt blood and seen the blood stain walls of the corridor that leads to the actual slaughter-house. This means that thousands of them everyday did suffer extreme mental stress before they die, especially when they were being detained inside the abattoir for a number of days before they were slaughtered, no matter how human the actual method of slaughtering is. It appears therefore that modern abattoirs should be designed to remove both the smell of blood and the vision of blood stains on walls and floors, etc. as much as possible and to make the animals unconscious well before they are transported to the actual slaughter house, so that unduly pro-longed mental suffering for the animals due to the horrible visual environment before they die could be reduced to the minimum.
Sir, our city should not only be CLEAN and GREEN but should also be as aesthetically KEEN.
It is with the above words, I support the motion.
MR. MA LEE-WO (in Cantonese):- Mr. Chairman, as public awareness grows, environmental protection has become a part of our daily life. Talking about environmental protection, I must mention the three important concepts: (1) reduction and (2) re-using of waste and (3) re-cycling (i.e. the 3 Rs). Environmental protection has been only at the publicity and education level in the past few years. That is important. But that should not be all. We must formulate policies and put in place measures so that members of the public can put to practise concept of environmental protection and show their support by concrete action.
Each day the territory produces about 24,000 tonnes of waste, a quarter of which is domestic waste. Under the Waste Disposal Ordinance, the Urban Council is responsible for the collection of domestic waste in the urban area. Hence, in discharging its duty, the Urban Council has an important role to play in spreading the concept of environmental protection. Unfortunately, this Council has always been conservative and passive in this regard and personally I am rather disappointed.
At present, the strategy for solid waste disposal is to take the waste to refuse transfer stations for compression before depositing it at landfills. We all know that this strategy fails to tackle the problems at its root. Usually the land cannot be put to good use for long time and there are environmental and ecological problems. The most effective solution is to encourage members of the public not to produce waste. We cannot merely do this by publicity and appeals. It is essential that we have policies in place and then we also have sorting, recycling and reduction of waste. What has the Council achieved in this area? I believe colleagues in the Council and members of the public have a pretty good idea and have made their own assessments.
The Urban Services Department has stressed time and again that the Department is empowered by law only to collect domestic waste in the urban area whereas the central government is responsible for all other tasks, including the sorting, recycling and reduction of waste. This shows that the Department has a rigid way of thinking and adopts the ostrich policy in the handling of waste. It seems that the Department's awareness of environmental protection fails to keep pace with social development. Its awareness comes late or even does not come at all. I absolutely cannot agree with the Department's claim of 'no responsibility'. I cannot see in what way we will contravene the existing laws if the Department collects sorted waste and implements measures for the recovery, recycling and reduction of waste. In my opinion, the Council must work out some schemes as soon as possible to actively support and participate in environmental protection in Hong Kong. In this connection, I would like to make some proposals for the reference of the Department. At the same time, I welcome comments from my colleagues in the Council:
(1) To collect domestic waste which has been sorted and separated: encourage the public to sort out recyclable waste of economic value, such as waste paper, old newspapers, aluminium cans and glassware, and take them to the recovery points provided by the Department.
(2) To provide recovery facilities; the Department should provide waste recovery facilities in all housing estates, bus termini, ferry piers and MTR stations. Moreover, our refuse collection points and markets etc. are ideal places for setting up waste recovery facilities because they are within easy reach of the residents.
(3) To actively encourage the public to reduce creating waste and to reuse waste: under the two Municipal Councils, there is a Joint Keep Hong Kong Clean Steering Committee. Waste reduction and reuse should top the list of the Committee's work. The slogan 'Keep Hong Kong Clean' is already out of date. The new idea today should be to 'reduce waste and reuse waste', i.e. to tackle the problem at its root in order to keep Hong Kong clean.
I very much hope that the Council will change its refuse collection service to keep in line with the growing environmental awareness of the community, and will take the initiative to draw up plans and provide facilities in order to encourage the public to reduce, reuse and recycle waste. In doing so, the Council can help the public to cultivate a green domestic life and join hands with them to create a new green environment for Hong Kong.
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL