A Legco panel has accused environmental officials of 'cheating' by postponing for three months the law meant to ban idling engines.
Adding to lawmakers' anger, a one-month grace period will be granted to offenders after the law takes effect on December 15 - three months after its intended implementation date and 10 months after the legislation was passed.
Carlson Chan Ka-shun, the deputy director of environmental protection, told Legco's environment affairs panel that the ban had been delayed out of consideration for drivers in the hot weather, who tend to leave their engines running to power a vehicle's air-conditioning system.
'My understanding all along is that everyone was hoping that the law would not take effect during the hottest days of the year,' Chan said. September was still part of the city's hottest season.
He said the Environmental Protection Department also needed time to finalise technical details, such as the format of the penalty notice, and to include these in subsidiary legislation which Legco would be able to pass only after it resumes sittings in September.
Audrey Eu Yuet-mee, the panel's deputy chairwoman, said she was dissatisfied with the delay, saying that 'the government has always cheated. [The delay] has damaged our mutual trust'.
She said the legislation could instead have been introduced 'in mid- or late October when it gets cooler.'