Opinion | Forget air quality and public health, the Hong Kong government puts its Lantau development project first
Loong Tsz-wai says the government’s proposal to merely tweak air quality goals in the upcoming review is unacceptable. But tighter regulations may well impede projects like the Lantau reclamation, and it’s clear where its priorities lie
Ozone levels in Hong Kong have reached a 20-year high, according to the latest figures. Thus, to better protect public health, the Environmental Protection Department’s upcoming Air Quality Objectives Review needs to be radical, and not just focus on how feasible a particular emissions-reducing policy will be.
Instead, the government must look to tighten the objectives so they are much closer to the World Health Organisation air quality guidelines and ensure the implementation of more effective carbon reduction measures and traffic management policies.
However, for the upcoming review, the Environmental Protection Department has suggested only tinkering with the standards: under its proposal, the limits on sulphur dioxide and fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 would be shifted from the WHO’s Interim Target 1 to Interim Target 2. But the department would allow the slightly more stringent limit on PM2.5 particulates to be exceeded more frequently, from the present nine times a year to a proposed 35 times.
This is totally unacceptable from a public health point of view. The reason behind this proposal, however, goes beyond the weak will of the administration and lies in the vested interests of other stakeholders.