HK Government pulls a slow one on air pollution

In his nearly eight years as Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-wha – Tsang's predecessor – did little to stem the deterioration of Hong Kong's air quality. By only now announcing the intent to move forward with more substantive air quality improvement measures the Tsang administration has, essentially, kicked the can down the road for the next one to deal with.

It remains to be seen whether Tsang's successor, who is due to be in office on 1 July, will have more vision and the determination to improve Hong Kong's air quality and deal with other environmental issues. Both carrots and sticks need to be applied.

With USD80 billion in reserves and a projected budget surplus of HKD60 billion (USD7.7 billion) for the financial year ending this March, Hong Kong's government certainly has the means to build on the city's strengths and turn the bad news story about air pollution into a good news story about leadership in sustainable urban development.