Hong Kong's roads 'make vehicle subsidy scheme a non-starter'

A HK$3.2 billion subsidy scheme to encourage owners of commercial vehicles to switch to models that meet cleaner Euro IV emission standards had failed because the vehicles were not suitable for Hong Kong's roads, legislators said yesterday.

They said the vehicles were unpopular because they were not designed to cope with hilly and congested conditions that involved frequent stopping, starting and gear-changing, and they broke down often.

Miriam Lau Kin-yee, lawmaker for the transport sector, told a meeting of the Legislative Council's environmental affairs panel: 'Many [commercial] vehicles are due for replacement, but no operators can tolerate vehicles that could break down at any minute.'

Albert Chan Wai-yip of the League of Social Democrats said 50 minibuses had been replaced by Euro IV models, but he had heard that they were off the road with problems for an average of 50 days in the course of six months. He said the vehicles were designed mainly to run on highways and expressways in Europe and were not used in any East Asian countries.

Mrs Lau said the government should resolve the problem before introducing the newer Euro V version in September.

The environment minister, Edward Yau Tang-wah, said the government was looking into the issue with manufacturers and the trade.