Anne Dingwall reviews her work in the mainland before moving on to the Amazon

IT seemed a fitting day to meet the prime mover behind the establishment of Greenpeace China - Hong Kong's air pollution had just been declared worse than that of Bangkok or Mexico City.

Across the harbour Kowloon dropped small hints it was still there, shimmering and shifting under a shroud of smog. Asthmatics wheezed. Allergics sneezed. The MTR trip to Central had been a grim symphony of coughs.

'Yes, we obviously still have a little bit of work to do,' says Anne Dingwall, twisting her face into a grimace to underscore the irony.

'I never cease to be amazed by the laissez-faire, short-term views here. The pollution hits an all-time record and the Government is saying, 'Oh, it won't hurt you but if you're a kid, or old, or have asthma, perhaps you shouldn't breathe this week'.

'Then they outfit 30 taxis with LPG [liquid petroleum gas] tanks, sit back and hope that because taxi owners are nice guys they'll all switch over.

'There seems to be no mid-term, let alone long-term view, like, what's this going to cost in hospitals and dealing with invalids and stuff like that? 'It really amazes me that a place with this level of education, of affluence, is so short-sighted. If the environment and people's health is important to the Government then they should be putting their money where their mouth is.' It is a typical Dingwall blast; both barrels and scarcely pausing to draw breath. Which, on this day, might not be a bad thing. It is also one of the last such blasts authorities here will have to weather, for the fiery Canadian is moving on to greener pastures. Much greener - the verdant but rapidly disappearing jungle of the Amazon.