environmenthealth
Hong Kong’s environmental authorities have conditionally approved an ecological report into a planned technology hub near the city’s border with mainland China, giving the project the go ahead despite green groups’ concerns. Director of Environmental Protection Samuel Chui on Friday defended the environmental impact assessment report for the San Tin Technopole project as “scientific, professional and comprehensive,” adding that the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) had proposed additional ecological mitigation measures on top of the eight suggested in the report. One of the main measur...
Hong Kong Free Press
Pro-establishment lawmaker Rebecca Chan has urged the government to postpone the waste charging scheme for a second time, citing a survey conducted by the legislator which showed a large percentage of interviewees supported a delay. The online survey, conducted from April 30 to May 6, collected 959 effective responses. Chan said at a press conference on Thursday that, while 58 per cent of people supported recycling and waste reduction, 78.1 per cent said they “agreed” or “highly agreed” to postpone the official roll-out of the waste tax. The waste tax, a policy to encourage recycling by asking...
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong officials have warned against thrill-seeking activities such as chasing storms and searching for big ocean waves during extreme weather, saying offenders could face jail time and a fine. Undersecretary for Security Michael Cheuk said on Thursday authorities are considering invoking legislation that would close beaches and country parks under extreme weather. Violators could face a HK$2,000 fine and 14 days in jail. “Do not attempt to defy nature for the sake of thrill-seeking or satisfaction, because you will not succeed,” Cheuk told reporters in Cantonese. Cheuk added that the lives...
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s public hospitals expect to hire 250 non-locally trained doctors this year, a senior official said as he expressed confidence in addressing a manpower shortage in the sector through overseas recruitment. Hospital Authority (HA) chairperson Henry Fan said there are currently around 150 non-locally trained doctors working in the city after authorities stepped up international recruitment efforts last year, local media reported. Speaking at the annual Hospital Authority Convention which opened on Thursday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Fan said the authority planned...
Hong Kong Free Press
Nobody is offering any official results, but it seems the first test of the proposed solid waste charging regime was not a success. The scheme, under which we will all have to buy bags from the government in which to dispose of household waste, has never attracted a warm welcome. Following a trial run it is now in so much trouble that politicians who have rarely seen a government proposal they didn’t like are suggesting politely that it might be postponed… possibly forever. This is not surprising. The government has a genuine problem in finding places to dispose of the mountains of refuse whic...
Hong Kong Free Press
A 61-year-old man has been taken to hospital with second-degree burns after a fire broke out at a plastics warehouse in Yuen Long where he worked. The blaze broke out at 12:39 am on Friday at Wing Ning Tsuen in Yuen Long, and was upgraded to a third alarm fire some 20 minutes later. It was largely extinguished within three hours. The authorities advised residents affected by the smoke and any unusual odours to close their doors and windows and stay calm. New Territories North Division Officer Samuel Wong said the department deployed 161 paramedics and firefighters with three hoses and 38 fire ...
Hong Kong Free Press
A green group has called for a phased rollout of a controversial waste charging scheme, whereby it could cover most government premises but exclude public housing estates when it takes effect this August. In an open letter, environmental group The Green Earth urged the government to roll out the waste tax in phases, requiring government premises – including their offices, public schools, government staff quarters, and government-operated malls and factory estates – to take part. Public rental housing estates, however, should be exempt from the tax in the proposed first phase of the charging sc...
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong authorities have said a road in Sai Kung that was partially closed due to a landslide on Saturday should reopen by Monday morning, after the city saw its first red rainstorm of the year. After inspecting an affected section of Clear Water Bay Road, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung said that workers were carrying out “temporary consolidation work” by spraying concrete onto the slope. “Our contractor and the Highways Department will keep monitoring the situation here,” Lam told reporters. “We’ll also liaise with the observatory to see if the weather will worsen, and w...
Hong Kong Free Press
The government has urged employers of outdoor workers to develop their own rules to prevent heatstroke after rolling out revisions to an official warning system that was slammed as ineffective and disruptive when introduced last year. The adjustments were made after stakeholders aired views to the Labour Department, Deputy Commissioner for Occupational Safety and Health Vincent Fung told RTHK on Friday. The pilot scheme was not originally due for review for two years. The Labour Department launched the revisions on Thursday to minimise situations in which a heat warning is cancelled and then r...
Hong Kong Free Press
Plans to introduce a problem-plagued waste charging scheme in Hong Kong will be reviewed by the end of May after a two-month pilot scheme and a report will be submitted to legislators, the government has announced. In response to a query from Ming Pao, the Environmental Protection Department said on Thursday the pilot scheme which started on April 1 would continue for two months, and authorities would submit a report to the Legislative Council on May 27. Authorities in January postponed full implementation of the waste charging scheme from April 1 to August 1, citing “public concerns”. Instead...
Hong Kong Free Press
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