At first glance, people would dismiss Friends of the Earth's latest report on the environment as 'pure nonsense'. It concludes that Hong Kong will become a concrete jungle with power cuts, rationed food and water, beaches too polluted to swim in and air too polluted to safely breathe in 50 years time. But when we think about it, the scenario could be frighteningly real. If we do not act now, our future generations will subsequently suffer. If the economy is to expand at about five per cent a year as the Government forecasts, the territory will require more roads, container terminals and other infrastructure. At a certain juncture, Hong Kong will suddenly wake up to find that this tiny region has no more room to manoeuvre. To maintain a sustainable growth, political and business leaders must rethink the territory's development strategy. There could be alternatives. It would be a big mistake if chief executive-designate Tung Chee-hwa and his advisers relegate the environment to a lower rung of his priority. People should not be complacent. Trust notwithstanding, we cannot afford to rely on China to supply us with water, food and vegetables forever. As population continues to increase by the millions on the mainland, Beijing may one day not be able to provide enough food and vegetables for its own people. The day may arrive sooner than we expect. Alarming it may seem, the scenario of food and water shortages should prompt the territory into devising alternative and contingency plans. It could not be too often reiterated that more funds should be sunk into developing 'green' technology, environmental guidelines laid down for major development projects and more talks with Guangdong held to determine what the province can do to help us ease our perceived problems. The assumptions, that economic growth creates wealth and with money we can buy anything we need, are precarious. No one wants to see Hong Kong become a wealthy, but sick, city. Let us all pitch in and start to do something.
