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to conduct a study, the results of which indicated that exhaust emission by vehicles can cause cancer,
Thus, action against air pollution, pollution by vehicle emission in particular, should not be delayed. The Government should take the lead by working on the vehicle fleet of the Council, and this is also the responsibility of the Council and the Department. Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR. STEVEN HUNG CHUNG-FUN (in Cantonese):—Hong Kong is a densely populated city and the living environment is crowded. Therefore spending a large amount of money and resources to deal with environmental problems is worthwhile. Our environmental protection policies are very backward when compared with those of other countries. In particular, there are many vehicles using the road and these vehicles use diesel which is more polluting. If the government wishes to promote environmental protection, it should do what it advocates and set an example for all car users. The Urban Council or the Urban Services Department should therefore take the lead immediately. But in discussing the problem, we should also learn about the arguments on this issue. Academics are divided on what is the best fuel for us. Of course, the cleanest type of fuel is electricity, as it will not cause any pollution. There are still pollutants but they can be very easily controlled. For instance, the electricity we now use is provided by the C.L.P. and also the H.K. Electric Company. The two companies are able to control most of the pollutants thus caused. However, vehicles can hardly operate on electricity generated by the electric plant. Then how can we deal with it? Many people ask whether we can use alternatives other than petrol, such as natural gas. The U.S.D. should use more advanced vehicles, though they may be more expensive. However, I think in a densely populated city like Hong Kong, it is worthwhile to spend more resources to eliminate pollution to the environment.
MR. TO BOON-MAN (in Cantonese):—It is good for the U.S.D. to be far-sighted in making preparations for the conversion or improvement of vehicles that cause pollution to the environment. If the Department does not stop using diesel vehicles by the deadline, then the Transport Department will not issue licences to the vehicles of the U.S.D.. Since we have no other choices, we must take the initiative to do what we should do. We should be leading the public and other institutions in environmental protection.
MR. LAI WING-LIN (in Cantonese):—I do not feel ashamed of the fact that the Urban Council uses diesel vehicles, because when we first used these vehicles, no one had found, conducted studies or published any findings about the harmful effect of exhaust produced by diesel vehicles on human bodies. Since the vehicles were bought long ago, it is already a good thing to propose making changes at present. But here I must remind Members not to overdo things ourselves. Before there are successful experiments of vehicles using fuels other than petrol, I don't think the Council should act as the guinea pig. About the gas vehicles, for instance, up to this moment I have not heard of such vehicles being actually manufactured
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