BUDDHIST monks at Lantau Island's Po Lin Monastery have threatened to close it to tourists to protest against a government warning that they would be prosecuted for discharging waste into nearby streams.
They say they should not be held responsible and claim that most of the pollution is caused by the food stalls and hawkers who operate outside the monastery.
The Environmental Protection Department (EDP) issued an ultimatum yesterday, ordering the monks to upgrade facilities to stop unauthorised kitchen waste and sewage discharge or face court action next month.
The monastery supervisor Reverend Sik Chi Wai said yesterday: 'Only a third of the tourists visiting the monastery have meals here. So we should be held responsible for only 30 per cent of the pollution.' The Government made the area a water control zone two years ago and has been discussing with the monks measures to reduce untreated waste discharge into nearby streams which flow into the island's Shek Pik Reservoir.
Septic tanks and waste-filtering facilities have been built, but those fail to comply with requirements.
Reverend Chi Wai said the stream water was as clear as drinking water. But latest water tests by the Government found water quality unacceptable.