Amoy Gardens residents divided over waste-charging methods
Residents of a Kowloon Bay estate where a government waste-charging plan will be tested say they support the scheme but remain divided on how the levy should be imposed.
Residents of a Kowloon Bay estate where a government waste-charging plan will be tested say they support the scheme but remain divided on how the levy should be imposed.
Four blocks of Amoy Gardens - I, J, H and K - will voluntarily take part in the pilot project, expected to begin this month, which will try out different charging methods.
Housewife Ou Liying, who lives in block J with her husband and two children, believes charging each household by the amount thrown away would be best. "I think this is the fairest approach. People should pay according to the amount of garbage they throw out," she said. "Why should people who don't throw out [garbage] subsidise those who throw out a lot?"
But this preference was not shared by everyone at the private housing estate, which made headlines as a quarantine zone in the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak.
Kin Lau, who lives in block H with his family of four, said charging by block would be more practical as it would reduce the hassle of having to buy designated rubbish bags every week.
"It would be more convenient for everyone if the cost was just included in the management fee," he said.
Another block H resident said she opposed any levy.
"There are so many charges for everything. I don't want to pay something extra," she said. "I have always had the habit of recycling different types of bottles and paper."
Yip Hing-kwok, chairman of the estate's incorporated owners' committee, said 70 per cent of 1,024 households polled last month said they supported a household-based charge. The other half was split between charging by weight or volume per building. Yip hoped the scheme would bring a 30 per cent reduction of waste at the estate.
