XN000022-1974-12-15 — Page 3

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1974

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+SO BY THE EARLY 1980S WE WILL REQUIRE TWICE THE GENERATING CAPACITY WHICH WE NOW HAVE AND MANY MORE DESALTING PLANTS....ALL THIS WILL REQUIRE MORE OIL AT A TIME WHEN THE WORLD DEMAND FOR EXTRA POWER ALSO CONTINUES TO GROW.

+WITH THE PRESENT HIGH PRICE OF OIL AND THE STRANGLE HOLD ON SUPPLIES, THE USE OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS HAS TO BE CONSIDERED,+ HE SAID.

MR. ROBSON WENT ON TO SAY THAT THE GROWING POPULATION AND GREATER AFFLUENCE WOULD ADD TO AIR, WATER, NOISE AND VISUAL POLLUTION UNLESS SOMETHING COULD BE DONE TO CONTROL THESE FORMS OF POLLUTION,

HE FELT THAT IF CONTROLS WERE TO BE IMPOSED, THEY MUST BE EMBODIED IN LEGISLATION SINCE INDUSTRIALISTS WOULD ONLY BE PREPARED TO SPEND MONEY AND EFFORT TO MEET REASONABLE POLLUTION CONTROL STANDARDS IF THEIR COMPETITORS WERE MADE TO ADOPT THE SAME STANDARDS.

+WE ARE NOW SETTING ABOUT THE TASK OF DECIDING WHAT ARE REASONABLE STANDARDS FOR HONG KONG INDUSTRY AND DRAFTING LEGISLATION TO DEFINE, CONTROL AND ENFORCE THEM,+ HE SAID.

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THE AIM, HE EXPLAINED, WAS TO MAKE THE LEGISLATION AS COMPREHENSIVE AS POSSIBLE COVERING AIR, WATER AND NOISE POLLUTION, AND TO SET UP THE NECESSARY MONITORING, CONTROL AND ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.

AS THE GOVERNMENT DID NOT AT PRESENT HAVE THE EXPERTISE AND RESOURCES FOR THIS TASK, EXPERT CONSULTANTS WERE BEING BROUGHT IN TO HELP. THE FIRM OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES LTD. OF LONDON HAD BEEN ENGAGED AND IT WAS HOPED IT WOULD START WORK ALMOST IMMEDIATELY.

MEANWHILE, MR. ROBSON SAID, THE GOVERNMENT HAD NO INTENTION OF DOING NOTHING UNTIL THE CONSULTANTS' REPORT WAS AVAILABLE. THE VERY ACTIVE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (EPCOM) WOULD CONTINUE ITS WORK, AND STANDARDS AND CONTROLS DEVISED BY OTHER CONSULTANTS FOR SPECIFIC INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS WOULD BE BROUGHT INTO EFFECT.

AS FAR AS THE GOVERNMENT WAS CONCERNED. MR. ROBSON SAID, THERE WERE THREE MAJOR PROBLEMS REFUSE DISPOSAL, SEWAGE DISPOSAL AND DISPOSAL OF ANIMAL WASTE.

IN RESPECT OF REFUSE DISPOSAL, A CONSULTANTS' REPORT HAD BEEN SUBMITTED AND IS BEING CONSIDERED BY THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS.

EVERYDAY, HE SAID, THE URBAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT COLLECTED 3,000 TONS OF REFUSE, AND A FURTHER 1,200 TONS WAS COLLECTED BY PRIVATE OPERATORS. A TOTAL OF 3,000 TONS FROM ALL SOURCES WAS DISPOSED OF BY TIPPING AT GIN DRINKERS BAY, WHICH IS NEARLY FULL, WHILE THE REST WAS BURNT AT THE KENNEDY TOWN AND LAI CHI KOK INCINERATORS.

THE HARBOUR, WHICH HAD PROVEN TO BE ONE OF THE BEST SEWAGE DISPOSAL PLANTS IN THE WORLD, HAD NOW REACHED THE LIMIT OF ITS NATURAL CLEANSING ABILITY, AND MORE SOPHISTICATED SEWAGE DISPOSAL PLANTS WOULD THEREFORE HAVE TO BE EMPLOYED, HE SAID.

/+IN MANI