City air is no better with Tang at helm of pollution fight, group says
SCMP
Cheung Chi-fai
Chief Secretary, Henry Tang Ying-yen was tasked last year to co-ordinate the efforts by different departments to meet new air quality objectives, but no progress has been thus far, says the Civic Exchange.
The CE has urged Tang to set a clear policy direction to improve air quality. The EPD is hampered by its lack of expertise in public health issues and government health officials are not being consulted enough.
Roadside pollution in the city has worsened, the main source of which is buses. The city’s 5,700-plus buses account for 40% of traffic emissions during peak hours. Most of these buses are pre-Euro or Euro I models which clean-air advocates have said should be retired. The buses are kept on the roads for 17 years, when the useful lifespan of a bus is between 12 to 14 years.
“Mike Kilburn, the think tank’s environmental programme manager, said the Transport Department allowed such a practice because it keeps fares lower.”
He also stated that “the think tank supported using the HK$300 million Green Transport Fund to offer subsidies to bus firms to encourage them to switch to the cleaner but more expensive diesel-electric hybrid buses.”
The government has said that possible measures to cut bus emissions are being studied and that 40% of the city’s existing fleet will be retired by 2015.
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