IF THE Government's pollution watchdog, the Environmental Protection Department, is to be believed, there is little they can do about the dangerously high dust levels outside a leading girls' school in Kowloon. The Education Department, which is supposed to be concerned about the welfare of Hong Kong school children, is even less helpful. They cannot do anything because such hazards fall outside their official remit, we are told.
And so the buck is passed from one government department to another, with none prepared to take responsibility for the health of 1,100 pupils at the Diocesan Girls' School. Daily, these youngsters face the danger of breathing in levels of dust particles that exceed the safety standards set by the World Health Organisation.
The blase response of both departments is all the more alarming because it has been a week since the results of air pollution tests at the school were published by this newspaper. Until then, students and teachers at the school had become so used to the dust kicked up by traffic and roadworks in the area, they had come to accept it. Only now are they asking questions.
Ironically, it has taken a private firm to come forward with a solution by offering to use a chemical wetting agent to try to reduce dust on the roads around the school. It is an offer that should be welcomed. But responsibility for solving the problem should not be left to a private company alone.
At the end of the day, it is the Government which should play its part in improving the environment.
The Diocesan Girls' School is only one instance where pollution poses a threat. The sight of waterways clogged with filth, the heavily polluted harbour and high noise levels are all too common in Hong Kong. This, we are led to believe, is the inevitable side effect of living in such a bustling and successful city.
However, we do not accept this argument. The price of success should not be declining health due to pollution. It is time for Hong Kong to clean up its act.