Legislators should be applauded for withholding support for a HK$15billion waste incinerator to be built on Shek Kwu Chau, leaving the issue to incoming chief executive Leung Chun-ying's administration. The current administration has clearly botched the job.
Many would agree with the government that incineration is part of the solution to Hong Kong's waste disposal problem, but where to put the incinerator? The Environmental Protection Department decided it should be built on Shek Kwu Chau, and cast local opposition as 'not in my neighbourhood' resistance by residents in the vicinity. In fact, the real issue is the department's unprofessional and indefensible decision-making that led to the selection of a site in an ecologically sensitive area, instead of an existing industrial zone - the Tsang Tsui ash lagoons in Tuen Mun.
The department failed to make an objective analysis and comprehensive comparison of the two sites. Its documents and presentations are biased towards its selection, describing only the advantages of Shek Kwu Chau. Any unbiased comparison clearly shows Tsang Tsui to be the better choice for environmental, economic and technical reasons.
Two consultants engaged by the department studied the feasibility of both sites under 20 criteria. It's easy even for a layman to see from their reports that Tsang Tsui is the better site in 12 criteria: engineering, technical and economic, less ecological impact, more efficient land use.
Only one factor favours Shek Kwu Chau: lower transport costs.
Both sites were rated the same under the four criteria of air quality, noise, landscape and hazard. The department provided no information for one criterion (operational cost), another was irrelevant (land ownership) and the remaining one was not addressed (community impact on Tuen Mun, Cheung Chau and South Lantau).