Tseung Kwan O landfill plan withdrawn amid opposition
Climbdown on plan to expand Tseung Kwan O dump presages more fights over how to deal with city’s growing rubbish pile
Hong Kong is on the verge of a deeper waste crisis after the environment minster bowed to political pressure and temporarily withdrew a plan to expand the Tseung Kwan O landfill, which the government had previously described as essential.
Wong Kam-sing, secretary for the environment, announced the climbdown yesterday after the biggest political party, the pro-establishment Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), refused to support the controversial plan.
The government has been working for 10 years on a proposal to expand the city's three landfills - the others are in Tuen Mun and at Ta Kwu Ling.
At the start of a meeting of the Legislative Council's public works subcommittee, Wong said: "We are disappointed that we cannot secure enough votes, but we still believe all three landfill extension plans are necessary."
The meeting ran out of time to vote on the HK$7 billion extension to the Ta Kwu Ling dump and a HK$35 million feasibility study for an extension of the Tuen Mun landfill.
Afterwards, Wong vowed to resubmit plans for the other two dumps before the legislature's summer recess in mid-July, but he did not say when the Tseung Kwan O plan would be revived.
The government has said the extensions are needed to avoid a waste crisis before a planned incinerator - also mired in controversy - is completed in 2023.
