Construction noise pollution in Hong Kong: enough is enough, one resident says
Why isn’t the government doing more to curb noise pollution as contractors continue to blatantly contravene the city’s noise laws
Hong Kong is a loud city. Recognising as much, and that noise pollution can lead to hearing loss, mental stress and irritation, the government set up the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) in 1986, in part to help protect us. But are the authorities doing all they can?
When it comes to one of noise pollution’s worst offenders – the construction industry – sadly, the answer is no. On its website, the EPD is honest enough to admit that builders “tend to treat fines for noise offences as a cost of doing business”.
I recently found this out first hand.
There is a construction site next to my home and having put up with drilling most of Sunday, when the work continued on Monday – a public holiday – I (like my one-year-old baby) decided enough was enough. I videoed the site as evidence and headed over to complain.
When I eventually located the site manager, she told me I was lying and that no one was making noise. On showing her the video and asking if she had a permit to build on a public holiday she promptly ran away. I called the police. The officers were not very interested but after viewing the video footage and ferreting out the site manager they issued a warning to the construction company.