Hong Kong lawmakers point fingers at each other over delay in passing waste disposal bill
- Pro-establishment camp’s Gary Chan says deadlock caused by pan-democrat lawmakers will stall the scheme even if it is passed by bills committee
- But pro-democracy camp’s Ted Hui says if the bills committee passes the bill on to the house committee, they will take responsibility for any delay
A long-delayed mandatory waste-charging scheme is likely to be stalled in the legislature, lawmakers from both camps have said, pointing fingers at each other for filibustering.
With less than three months left to the current legislative session, upcoming elections have also made lawmakers wary of offending their voter base by pushing through any new laws supporters might oppose, political observers said.
Proposed almost 16 years ago, the waste disposal bill was expected to reduce waste by 40 per cent on a per capita basis by 2022, according to the government’s blueprint for sustainable use of resources.
“I think the chances of the bill passing are nearly zero,” pro-establishment lawmaker Gary Chan Hak-kan, a member of the bills committee for the waste-charging scheme, said.
