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Letters | Learn from Duterte: lay down the law for Hong Kong litterbugs
- A martial approach of uniformed patrols and heavy fines would force Hongkongers with zero civic sense to get serious on reducing waste
Rainbow Or (“Waste reduction: Seoul and Taipei can do it, so why can’t Hong Kong?”, November 8) and many other Hongkongers like her (“How smarter waste disposal could even ease Hong Kong’s housing crisis”, November 13) are frustrated at the crawling speed of better waste control, which I would put down to simply a lack of courage and proper approach or sustained campaigns on the part of the authorities, along with zero self-discipline among citizens, leading to mounting waste build-up.
My estate put out three waste collection bins, to aid separation of litter and recycling. But all the rubbish was just thrown into the bulk litter box, damaging it. It was not reinstalled. There is almost zero civic sense on waste disposal among Hongkongers, despite all these years of environmental protection campaigns headed by top environmental officials as far back as I can remember, from Sarah Liao Sau-tung, to Christine Loh Kung-wai and now Wong Kam-sing.
I believe Hong Kong needs to take a lesson from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, and initiate firm action before matters get worse. We need a strict martial approach to litter management, with uniformed officers on patrol and heavy fines or jail time for littering, spitting or smoking. This will increase government revenue as well as the moral standards of Hongkongers regarding waste and pollution. It’s worth a trial.
Edmond Pang, Fanling
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