Stringent ticketing can help clear the air
Deputy director of Environmental Protection Mike Stokoe says that a law to curb idling engines is not the answer (South China Morning Post, October 30).
I am wondering when the new system of 'accountability' in the government will begin to take hold. Mr Stokoe's response was yet another example of a government department passing the buck to someone else, in this case, the 'managers and owners of the companies operating the vehicles that need to clean up their act'. Where is the incentive for them to even think about this issue when there is nothing that leads them to even consider that the issue of idling is a problem?
I have asked the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) in the past about the reasons for not having an idling engine law, and received the response that at least idling was less harmful than having the vehicle drive around. What kind of answer is this and what kind of message does this send to managers of companies?
The departments accountable are the EPD, the Transport Department (both under the wing of Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works Sarah Liao Sau-tung) and the police. A law may not need to be created, but a change of mentality is what certainly is needed.
One of the main reasons that goods and transportation vehicles are idling is because the drivers think they will not receive a ticket if their engine is 'running'. Often they are unloading for more than 30 minutes without being in the vehicle (therefore air-conditioning is not their concern), but they feel they are protecting themselves from a ticket.
People in Hong Kong are concerned about idling engines, because 100 per cent of our goods and transportation vehicles are diesel and 90 per cent of the idling problems come from these vehicles. Other countries do not have this enormous diesel problem, so there is no incentive for their citizens to require a law.
Unfortunately, Hong Kong is subsidising the use of diesel at the expense of its citizens' health. Until diesel prices are higher, there will be no incentive for the managers of vehicle companies to stop idling in order to save fuel costs, or to decide to convert to cleaner fuels. Similarly, if tickets are not given when a vehicle is illegally stopped because it is idling, there is no cost to that manager in the form of penalties, so we remain in a vicious circle.
Tickets should be issued and this does not require new legislation. The laws are already in place.
DOUG WOODRING
Mid-Levels
