Joint bid to fight water pollution
HONGKONG will start working with Guangdong and Macau to tackle water pollution in the Pearl River, which is under increasing threat from rapid industrialisation and an expanding population.
The agreement marks the first time the three have joined forces on the issue and was reached during a week-long workshop on the Pearl River delta that ended yesterday.
Environment officials and scientists from all three jurisdictions, as well as Europe, attended the meeting, which was sponsored by the British Council and the Guangdong Environmental Protection Bureau.
They agreed to set up a committee of representatives from Hongkong, Macau and Guangdong to co-ordinate action on tackling water pollution, and to set up a liaison body to seek funding.
They also shared information on water quality standards and monitoring, and on programmes to control pollution.
''What's being set up here is a first step towards cleaning up the Pearl River delta and getting something done,'' said Mr Mike Stokoe, Assistant Director of Hongkong's Environmental Protection Department.
The fast-growing economies around the delta have resulted in higher human and industrial pollution loads as more factories have been built and more people have been drawn to the region.
Mr Stokoe said there could be more red tides and high levels of toxic metal contamination in seafood if the pollution was not checked.
''Obviously, we're not satisfied [with present environment controls in southern China] or else we wouldn't have had this workshop. We're looking for ways to make this better,'' he said.
