6 days ago HONG KONG (AFP) — Hong Kong’s financial chief on Wednesday promised sweeping tax cuts for workers and businesses and abolished duty on wine and beer on the back of a record budget surplus. In his maiden budget speech, Financial Secretary John Tsang said he would increase spending on health services and introduce [...]
Posts from ‘February, 2008’
Should The Proposed Incinerator Be Built?
Updated on Feb 29, 2008 – SCMP The government plans to build an incinerator either in Tuen Mun or on Lantau. I appreciate that building an incinerator can help reduce the pressure on Hong Kong’s landfills. In Tuen Mun, it has been argued, after the treatment of trash at the incinerator, the energy produced could [...]
Hong Kong Willing To Share Data On Incinerator
HK willing to share data on incinerator Cheung Chi-fai – Updated on Feb 29, 2008 – SCMP Hong Kong was willing to share information and exchanges about the possibility of locating a waste-to-energy incinerator in Tuen Mun following concerns over its impact raised by Shenzhen residents, the environment chief said yesterday. The remark came at [...]
2008 Hong Kong Government Budget
Chance To Cut Tobacco Sales Squandered Feb 29, 2008 – SCMP Wednesday’s budget was a shocking indirect declaration from the government that it does not care about the health of our society. Firstly, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, failed to raise tobacco taxes, now for the eighth year in a row, making these taxes less [...]
Better Air Quality Engagement
Council for Sustainable Development’s Report on the Better Air Quality Engagement Process Hong Kong has wrestled with the challenges of development over the years. Transformed from a manufacturing-based city to becoming a provider of the sleek service operations that are now on offer, Hong Kong has been successful in re-inventing itself as the need calls. [...]
Incentive Offered On Green Taxis And Buses
Cheung Chi-fai – Updated on Feb 28, 2008 – SCMP The first-registration tax for commercial vehicles meeting stringent Euro V emission standards will be reduced or waived in the hope of improving roadside air quality. Taxis, minibuses and non-franchised buses will enjoy a full tax waiver, while owners of goods vehicles will pay 30 to [...]
China Factories Go Central
Squeezed in the south, China Factories Go Central Reuters – Thursday February 28 2008 By Simon Rabinovitch ZHENGZHOU, China, Feb 28 (Reuters) – China’s central provinces are vying to wrest the crown of cheap manufacturing heartland from the country’s south, luring factories with tax breaks, inexpensive labour and looser pollution controls. Reports of smaller exporters, [...]
Building Upgrades To Fight Global Warming
February 28, 2008 – Environment Upgrading energy efficiency in buildings is a cost-effective measure to address growing concerns about global warming and local air quality, as buildings account for 89% of Hong Kong’s electricity consumption, Permanent Secretary for the Environment Anissa Wong says. She said at a public consultation forum today environmental protection is one [...]
Fudge Of Smog Figures Denied
Peter Simpson in Beijing – SCMP – Updated on Feb 28, 2008 “Beijing officials yesterday denied claims they had falsified pollution monitoring levels in a desperate bid to gloss over the capital’s poor air quality ahead of the Olympics. It was reported last month that Chinese scientists had fiddled with statistics by dropping data from [...]
Banks Warned Against Developers, Polluting Borrowers
Banks Warned Against Developers, Polluting Borrowers CBRC wary over loans guaranteed by local governments Reuters in Beijing – Updated on Feb 28, 2008 The mainland’s banking regulator on Thursday warned big lenders of the risks of lending to real-estate developers and highly polluting or energy-intensive firms, ordering them to step up controls to prevent a [...]