Experts slam lack of novel ideas to protect white dolphins from third runway construction

Government environment advisers vented their frustration yesterday at the Airport Authority's failure to come up with "out-of-the-box ideas" to protect the threatened Chinese white dolphin during construction of the proposed third runway.

They were speaking on the last of three days' scrutiny of the environmental impact assessment study on the runway.

"We hear nothing new. You just repeat and repeat," said Dr Hung Wing-tat, vice-chairman of the Advisory Council on the Environment subcommittee studying the report.

"You just can't say let [the environmental impact] study pass first and we will see what we can do. Can you invest a little bit more? And don't always just ask the government to do things."

Subcommittee members had been unhappy at the last meeting over the lack of measures to compensate for plans to reclaim 650 hectares of prime habitat for the shrinking dolphin population - and it emerged as the key issue again yesterday.

The meeting was the last opportunity to provide new information to the subcommittee before it makes its recommendations to the council, which will decide next month whether the report should be endorsed and what conditions to attach.

Before Hung's criticism - which was met by silence from airport officials - Professor Nora Tam Fung-yee also vented her frustration at the authority's performance.