Hong Kong gets passing grade on efforts to tackle marine rubbish, and government departments say they will do more to combat problem
- Audit Commission report highlights areas for improvement in dealing with rubbish in city’s waters and along its coastline
- Intergovernmental working group was created in 2012 to deal with the issue
The government departments involved in tackling Hong Kong’s marine rubbish said they would do more to combat the problem, after an Audit Commission report highlighted several areas that needed improving.
An interdepartmental working group involving the Environmental Protection Department, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, was set-up by the government in 2012 to coordinate and enhance efforts in tackling rubbish in the city’s waters and along its coastline.
A report on its efforts released by the Audit Commission in October last year showed the departments could do more, and better, when it came to shoreline refuse. The commission made several recommendations on how they could improve.
Shoreline refuse is collected by a number of departments according to the location of which they are in charge. In 2019, 3,856 tonnes of shoreline refuse was collected by the Environmental Protection Department, AFCD and Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
02:26
From macaques to crabs, wildlife face threat of masks discarded during Covid-19 pandemic
At a hearing of the Legislative Council’s Public Accounts Committee on Saturday, Vincent Liu Ming-kwong, director of leisure and cultural services, said the department used contract workers to clean 41 gazetted beaches, and provided more than 200 water dispensers at these beaches for the public to drink from, while raising public awareness of environmental protection.