XN000022-1973-06-07 — Page 2

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Thursday, June 7, 1973

STEPS TO CURB ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

The biggest problem facing Hong Kong's environment in the future

is expected to be the ever-increasing population and the demands which will

be made on the limited land resources of Hong Kong.

A government spokesman, reviewing the progress and problems concerning

the environment, said that the way in which "we use the land will become

increasingly important, and its waste or deterioration by pollution will not

be tolerable".

To conserve and make use of what Hong Kong has will mean planning,

self-control and sanctions for those who misuse and pollute the land, he said,

At the same time, it will demand programmes of action for both the

government and the private sector, "but above all it demands the concern

and effort of everyone who lives in Hong Kong to ensure that те

do not spoil the environment which we and our successors were meant to enjoy",

the spokesman stressed.

Speaking about other trends which Hong Kong must guard against in

the future, he said that the great increase in the Sheung Shui tanneries

between 1968 and 1970, with their pollution problems, illustrated clearly the

dangers of too loose a control over land and industry.

Refuse disposal problems in the New Territories also showed that

as much attention must be devoted to the disposal of urban wastes as to other

forms of pollution.

/Turning