THE Environmental Protection Department (EPD) will get a massive budget increase, mostly for waste disposal, but observers fear other areas such as air and noise pollution are not getting their fair share.
The EPD will get $933.4 million for 1993-94, up 52.5 per cent from the $612 million it received in the current year.
Waste disposal will receive $727.7 million, or 78 per cent, of the allocation, indicating the heavy workload ahead as new landfills are set up and a new chemical waste treatment plant starts operating in April.
The overall budget rise was generally welcomed by legislators and green groups, but there was concern about the EPD's priorities.
Legislator Reverend Fung Chi-wood, who is the United Democrats' spokesman on the environment, worried that too little was being spent on noise and air pollution.
The noise control budget went up 13.6 per cent to $27.6 million, while the air quality budget increased 6.9 per cent to $66.6 million.
''On the whole there is an increase in real terms and I think that's good progress, but I'm still not satisfied on noise and air,'' he said.