A landfill charging scheme for small-scale construction or renovation projects could be put in place in a little over a year, as the government appears to have achieved a breakthrough in negotiations with dump-truck drivers.
A senior official from the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau yesterday said that if the scheme is accepted by waste-transport operators, legislators could endorse the new mechanism before the summer, clearing obstacles for its implementation by the middle of next year.
Talks with dump-truck drivers have been continuing for months over the charging arrangement. In an apparent breakthrough on Wednesday, drivers said they did not object, in principle, to the new mechanism.
'We still need more studies into the details of the mechanism and, at the same time, we will liaise with the trade over the progress,' the bureau official said.
In 1995, the government planned to implement a scheme under which drivers would pay cash on behalf of construction contractors when disposing waste at landfills.
But fears they would suffer serious losses if contractors failed to repay them prompted the drivers to blockade landfills.
