The government assures us that it is tackling the pollution problem with urgency. Yet every day when walking to my office in an industrial area of Hong Kong I have to run the gauntlet of a street full of parked trucks all belching their poisonous fumes over the pavement. In many a cabin the topless driver luxuriates in his air-conditioned environment oblivious of the suffering he is imposing on Hong Kong.
Why cannot the government ban the running of engines when parked, like so many other countries have? There is no need to 'consult the public' in order to see if the measure will improve the popularity of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa.
It will not solve the problem completely, but it will make life for pedestrians a whole lot healthier and it will not cost the government a penny.
CHRISTOPHER WOOD
Discovery Bay
Look around Central, Kowloon and Causeway Bay and see the traffic jams caused not by private vehicles but by long queues of coaches and buses. Why the need for so many buses when they are usually less than 30 per cent full and, when all franchised transport is added together, the average utilisation is less than 20 per cent?
