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A clean and green Hong Kong
Poisoned air and water were too high a price to pay for economic progress, the Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten, told the Legislative Council today (Wednesday).
Outlining the Government's actions on environmental pollution since his initial Policy Address in 1992, Mr Patten said a good start had been made on improving air quality.
"The principal remaining source of pollution is the high density of vehicles which use our roads," he said.
"In 1994, we set ourselves the goal of reducing the level of vehicle pollution by 20 per cent within two years.
"We have two new measures to help us reach this target. Last month, we published for public consultation our proposals for encouraging taxi and public light bus operators to shift from diesel to petrol vehicles which cause less pollution.
"We plan to cease to register any new diesel vehicle under four tonnes. We intend to bring these measures into effect next year."
Diesel vehicles larger than four tonnes would have to undergo an annual smoke inspection and penalties for smoky vehicles would be raised.
Urgent measures were being taken to tackle pollution of Hong Kong's harbour and coastal waters, he said.
These aimed to dispose of sewage safely, to prevent the uncontrolled dumping of waste and to make the polluter pay.
"For the urban areas, the High Priority Programme of the Sewage Strategy will reduce the flow of pollution into the harbour by 70 per cent," Mr Patten said.
"This project will be completed by early 1997 at a capital cost of some $9.4 billion, on schedule and within budget.
"In the New Territories, the first phase of the livestock waste control scheme has reduced pollution of the worst rivers and streams by 70 per cent. Our goal is to reduce pollution from this source by 90 per cent over the next four years at a cost of $1.35 billion."
Charges under the Sewage Services Ordinance implemented the principle of "the polluter pays", he said.
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