Hong Kong is steeped in a murky history of pollution. From the outbreak of the bubonic plague that killed 1,000 people in 1894, caused by insanitary living conditions, to air pollution indices that reach dangerously high levels today.

Chicken flu, landfills that will be full in 15 years and red tide are among the environmental hazards that Hong Kong faces as it approaches the 21st Century.

So what can be done to counteract such an impending disaster of severe environmental degradation? What is Hong Kong doing? Who is to blame?

Mr Barrie Cook, Chairman for the Environmental Committee of the Chamber and Chief Executive Officer of Cheung Kong Infrastructure Materials, agreed that Hong Kong was taking small, tentative steps towards saving the environment but these were mostly aimed at damage limitation rather than prevention.

"The Government has not taken pollution seriously in the past. The environment has been ignored for so long and this is now realised as a big mistake. As a result, the present Administration is committing huge resources to environmental protection but trying to rectify the problem will take years," he said.

The Strategic Sewage Disposal Scheme, that would improve harbour water quality, won't be finished for another seven years.

"The bureaucratic foot-dragging of the past is changing to a certain extent there is the Advisory Council on the Environment now. Also non-Government organisations such as green groups, pressure groups and the Chamber's Hong Kong Business Coalition on the Environment are increasingly having their say," he said.

In the past, economic considerations have presided over environmental risks in Government decision-making.

"The Administration now realises the two are linked. A declining environment effects the economy causing low productivity and repelling investment and tourism. Friends of the Earth conducted a study revealing the economic costs of air pollution in Hong Kong the results were horrendous," he said.

Another criticism is that the Government is slow to prosecute polluters.

"Often the laws exist but they're never enforced. The fines are so minimal that people just offend repeatedly. For example, contractors who contravene the laws 20-30 times never get fined substantial amounts. What you need is to fine people several thousand dollars," he said.

Mr Cook suggested that smoky vehicles should be impounded immediately and the owner should be charged for its release.

"I know this is Draconian but unless you enforce the existing laws you're not going to improve the situation," he said.

In 1994 Christopher Patten (then Governor) said the Government was going to clean up the air by 1997. This clearly hasn't happened and considering the snail's pace of the legislative process, the air won't be cleaned-up for several years.

"Even when all taxis switch from diesel to LPG [Liquid Petroleum Gas] we'll have to suffer smoggy winters for the next decade," he said.

One of the problems of using LPG is the logistics. LPG fuel stations must be 55 metres away from buildings difficult in Hong Kong.

"Diesel fuel increases the amount of RSPs [Respirable Suspended Particles] causing serious long-term health problems. LPG is a proven technology, used by taxis in Tokyo and Sydney," he said.

The air pollution problem has a dirty history of inaction.

In 1995, a study by the Chinese University showed that Hong Kong children were at risk from immunity problems due to air quality. But the Government has only been running an LPG trial scheme with 30 taxis over the last year. So far the results of the trial have been satisfactory and the Government is keen for the switch to go ahead, but the Legislative Council needs to agree on the scheme in order for it to be implemented.

In 1995, the Government tried to introduce legislation which would force diesel vehicles to change to petrol in five years, but it was thrown out of Legco because the taxi drivers refused to give it there support.

In 1998 the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) established that 2,000 people die every year from excessive levels of suspended air particles.

On September 22, 1998, the air pollution index was 167 at Causeway Bay's roadside the highest since records began in 1995.

One of the major problems, particularly with air pollution, are pollutants produced across the border in Guangdong blow over into Hong Kong.

"The Guangdong-Hong Kong joint Liaison Group on the Environment, meets once a year and is looking into the problem of cross-border pollution of air and water. The Chamber has pressed for much greater contact between the two," he said.

Guangzhou has recently joined forces with Hong Kong in the Clean Air Campaign. Two studies will be conducted; Hong Kong will do a smog study and Guangzhou one on acid rain, these will be launched in the middle of next year.

There is also the problem of waste reduction. On November 19, 1998, the SARs only paper recycling company, Concordia, closed down.

"There was hysteria in the press about this but Concordia went bankrupt because it borrowed too much money it has nothing to do with the recycling side," he said.

Government subsidies may have prevented Concordia from going bankrupt.

"Subsidies are a controversial subject you need to be careful about subsidies for recycling. The whole thrust is to reduce waste, not to subsidise someone to recycle waste. Government could make some concessions though such as interest free loans to recyclers, cheap land etc. A Waste Reduction Committee is being formed that will address this area," he said.

If the fines for polluting were increased the Government could use that to subsidise recycling companies.

Another sticky issue is that Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) are often funded by developers so there may be a conflict of interest.

"I serve on the Environmental Impact Assessments Sub-Committee. 1988 saw the inception of the EIA ordinance. Whether EIAs are paid for by the developer or not is not the point the fact is we have a process to look at environmental impact this is positive. A number of EIAs have been amended by our Committee," he said.

"The system may be bureaucratic but it works quite well and is transparent EIAs are published on the Internet," he said.

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has often been accused of not taking affirmative action and only taking the lead until public opinion is firmly behind it.

The EPD acts more like an implementer rather than an instigator of environmental protection.

The Executive Council has recently approved the further development of the Strategic Sewage Disposal Scheme (SSDS).

At the moment sewage is collected at Stonecutters Island where it is given a mild chemical treatment and then pumped into the harbour.

"In line with the SSDS, in seven years, sewage will be collected at Stonecutters Island, treated and then piped to east Lamma Island where it will go into the sea the harbour water quality should improve quickly," he said.

But this smacks of moving the problem rather than solving it and green groups have criticised that there should be a higher level of treatment.

"On Lamma they have the flexibility to do further treatment if it is necessary," he said.

Another area of controversy is the Sustainable Development 21 (SUSDEV21) study by Environmental Resource Management Consultants that was commissioned by the Government in September 1997, to the tune of HK$40 million.

Many critics say that the parametres of this software that will help Government make environmentally sustainable decisions have been reduced so much that it no longer reflects sustainable development.

"I'm in favour of it, the green groups feel it is a cover-up by Government. But the whole question of sustainability is incredibly complex so whichever way it is tackled it will be controversial," he said.

The Hong Kong University recently released a study (Towards Sustainability) that came to the obvious conclusion that Hong Kong is not sustainable.

For any real positive change to occur the private sector must get involved.

"The Chamber's Hong Kong Business Coalition on the Environment attempts to broach this issue and acts as a focused private-sector voice on environmental issues. It's actively tackling the problem of floating refuse in the harbour," he said.

Mr Cook said that big companies were usually quite green it was the smaller companies that tended to be environmentally unaware.

"The ISO14001 environmental certification should be encouraged for all businesses Government could fine companies that don't have it but that may be unrealistic. In my view external forces such as demands by business partners in the US and Europe will result in more certification," he said.

Environmental accounting is still not popular worldwide only 11 per cent of companies have it in their annual reports.

"I think it will hit Hong Kong soon, as will social accounting," he said.

Hong Kong has the potential to be the "green dragon" of China, with its tall buildings and compact city structure journeys are short and have less impact on the environment.

"The buildings here are very inefficient, if they were built to be energy efficient, they would have little impact on the environment. We have a long way to go and our biggest competitor is Singapore. If Hong Kong wants to compete as an international service centre, it must clean up its act," he said.