THE price of being green will go up for the people of Hong Kong: over the next 1,000 days it will cost more to flush your toilet, dump your rubbish, and to ride in taxis.
It will even cost more to enjoy the sounds of silence.
The Environmental Protection Department will start enforcing water, air and noise pollution strategies, some of which it recommended in its 1989 White Paper on the environment.
The 'polluter pays' scheme to charge for dumping privately collected solid waste will begin in 1995. Not only will industries have to pay, but residential complexes which use private waste collection companies will see an increase in their management fees because of the programme.
Sewage charges will go in place in 1995 to help recover the cost of sewage services and to 'raise environmental awareness in the community'.
The construction industry will have to comply with tightened controls on noise pollution. Construction industry spokesman Patrick Chan Wing-tung says these costs will eventually trickle down to the consumer.