I refer to the report headlined, 'West Rail project worries watchdog' (South China Morning Post, July 11).
The World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong (WWFHK) has lodged an objection to the Sheung Shui to Lok Ma Chau spur line environmental impact assessment (EIA), because the project would not only fragment the Long Valley habitats, but also cause a net loss of wetlands in the internationally-important Deep Bay area.
The KCR Corporation's proposed spur line would cause a direct net loss of wetlands (9.5 hectares) in the wetland conservation area adjacent to the Mai Po Inner Deep Bay Ramsar Site and is ecologically unacceptable. Such a substantial net loss of wetland contravenes the Town Planning Board guidelines which stipulate that a precautionary approach and the no-net-loss of wetland principle, both in terms of area and function, should be taken to mean the preservation of the intrinsic value of fishponds. The spur line, if accepted, would set a bad precedent and would open the floodgates to further development within the wetland conservation area near our Ramsar Site, causing an even greater loss of fishponds. Besides, there is insufficient information to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed mitigation measures to compensate the fishpond loss in the Lok Ma Chau area. The issue of the direct, indirect and residual ecological impacts remains unknown.
The Advisory Council on the Environment (ACE) reviewed the spur line EIA report on July 17, but there was little press reporting of its deliberations and comments.
My records, as a member of ACE, show that there was a general consensus that:
The EIA had fundamental flaws and omissions in its baseline data describing elements of the physical and biological environments likely to be impacted by the proposed project. In particular, the incomplete ecological baseline would result in an underestimated impact and insufficient mitigation measures.