| Red Tides and Unplanned Infrastructure: The Need for Joining Hands in Achieving Sustainable Development in the Pearl River Delta by K. C. Ho and C. S. Man 隨 著 環 保 （ 如 紅 潮 和 深 海 排 污 工 程 ） 與 基 建 （ 如 機 場 協 調 和 公 路 網 絡 ） 的 問 題 日 益 增 多 ， 日 後 香 港 和 珠 江 三 角 洲 之 間 必 會 衍 生 磨 擦 。 有 關 當 局 ， 宜 及 早 就 可 持 續 發 展 的 政 策 增 加 對 話 ， 在 「 共 贏 」 的 大 前 提 下 共 策 繁 榮 。 由 於 可 持 續 發 展 涉 及 跨 區 域 的 規 劃 ， 有 必 要 成 立 一 個 多 層 次 的 跨 境 諮 詢 組 織 ， 廣 納 各 方 意 見 ， 同 創 美 好 的 居 住 條 件。
The warning signal given by red tides There were widespread outbreaks of red tide in the coast of Hong Kong and Guangdong Province during March to April 1998. The phenomenon of red tide was caused by the blooms of a strain of micro-algae, namely dinoflagellate, whose vegetative cells were imported by the intruded currents from the South China Sea. The red tide caused massive fishkills in the fish-cultivation waters of Dapeng Bay, Hong Kong and the estuary of Pearl River. It was estimated that more than four hundred tonnes of cultured fish were killed by deoxygenation and toxins secreted by the causative organisms. The total economic loss in Hong Kong and Guangdong was greater than HK$ 400 million (Sing Tao Daily, 15 April 1998 and China Daily Hong Kong, 5 May 1998). While red tide was often regarded as a natural phenomenon which was triggered by the changes in seawater temperature, salinity and solar illumination, recent scientific research also reveals that it is an outcome of coastal pollution with the extensive discharges of biologically available nitrogen and phosphates from sewage. Hodgkiss and Ho (1997) showed that red tide was supported by nutrients persistently existing in seawater and marine sediments and a special ratio between inorganic nitrogen and phosphates was the basic limiting factor to its outbreak. Hence, the recent red tide raised the deep concerns from the general public about the problems of increasing water pollution between Hong Kong SAR and the Guangdong Province that share the common waters of the South China Sea. It is also noteworthy that the loss due to the recent red tide might be minimised by setting up a joint monitoring network between Hong Kong and Guangdong beforehand. If exchanges in oceanic and environmental data had been enhanced, it could have been possible to forecast some of the red tide events with prior warnings given to fishermen for reducing their loss. Moreover, because there is an increasing trade exchange between Hong Kong and Guangdong in recent years, the sales of red tide-contaminated fishery products may pose harms to the health of people in the Pearl River Delta and so should be seriously considered by both governments.
Woeful infrastructure planning After 1 July 1997, people in Hong Kong and the other parts of Mainland China expect to develop expanded economic links between both sides of the Shenzhen River. With regards to infrastructure development and environmental protection, for example, the transport links between New Territories and Shenzhen and the protection of wildlife in the inner Deep Bay, there is also an increasing recognition that more and more cross-border coordinations should be established to avoid unwanted overlapping and ineffective use of resources. Unfortunately, there are numerous redundant infrastructure projects being planned or being implemented in the Pearl River Delta. The most obvious example is the development of new airports in Hong Kong, Macau, Zhuhai and Guangzhou. It is extremely difficult to imagine how the air passages can be tidily allocated to the five airports within a small radius of 25 km. Undoubtedly, the general lack of coordination resulted in significant economic competition and unnecessary damages to natural environment (Yeh and Mark 1995). Recently, the proposal for building a Zhuhai-Hong Kong Lingdingyang Bridge was placed as an agenda item for the Infrastructure Coordination Group between Hong Kong SAR and Guangdong. The bridge will be of 40 km in length and consists of six lanes linking up Jinding Town of Zhuhai, Qi'ap Island, Inner Lingding Island and Black Point of Hong Kong. This bridge was however initiated by the government of Zhuhai with limited consideration of the possible risks of traffic congestion and noise pollution in the Northwest New Territories of Hong Kong. To cope with the increasing traffic demand, the government of Shenzhen also proposes to build a Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Corridor which will comprise a Shenzhen-Hong Kong Highway and a new railway. Regrettably, the project includes the construction of the Deep Bay Railway Bridge connecting Tuen Mun and Shekou. The proposed connection points of road and railway are however very different from what the Hong Kong SAR Government envisaged (Yeh 1996). The political and economic integration after July 1997 will surely open up new challenges to urban planners, conservationists and policy makers.
Environment of Pearl River Delta at risk Environmental pollution is emerging as a major problem in the Pearl River Delta. For atmospheric pollution, government officials on both sides of the Shenzhen River are concerned about the blowing of fumes and pollutants by the prevailing wind. A recent study (Liu et al 1997) showed that there had been increased amount of hazy days in the Pearl River Delta from the early 1990s. Acid rain as a result of air pollution is directly correlated to increases in automobile transport and coal-fired power plant in the Pearl River Delta region (Environmental Protection Department 1997). In 1992, the then colonial government of Hong Kong decided to implement its Strategic Sewage Disposal Scheme (SSDS) in order to tackle the increasing pollution problems in Victoria Harbour. Unfortunately, the SSDS only intended to treat the 150 tonnes of raw sewage produced by Hong Kong citizens every day at a minimal cost and envisaged to discharge most of the primarily treated effluents into the South China Sea through a long water pipe. The proposal was objected by the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group and was strongly criticised by green groups in Hong Kong as a 'non-ethical' proposal totally against the principle of 'only one Earth'. Since the late 1980s, manufacturers in Hong Kong have moved most of their factories into the Pearl River Delta because of high land and labour prices locally. In association with such economic changes, it is unfortunate that some of the heavily polluting industries also shifted their manufacturing lines into the Mainland resulting in the 'exporting' of pollution into the Pearl River Delta. Although the Hong Kong Government tried to adopt stringent environmental regulations and practices, such as enacting the Sewage Services Ordinance and the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance in 1994 and 1997 respectively, the relevant pollution control measures can hardly improve the overall environmental quality because we are still breathing the air shared by the people of Guangdong and are drinking the water extracted from the East River which has been contaminated by some of the Hong Kong invested factories. To be realistic, we must look into development strategies which can embrace the Pearl River Delta as a whole. Moreover, with the return of sovereignty to China in 1997, it is unwise for Hong Kong to limit its attention to the 1,080 km2 of territory. Hong Kong should extend its environmental vision to incorporate the various environmental measures of neighbouring cities into an integrated framework. Only by means of more cooperation and understanding may the SAR obtain mutual benefits in economic development and environmental protection with other cities in the region.
Heading towards sustainable development China is the first nation in the world in affirming the various environmental agenda (commonly known as the Agenda 21) as its national policies. As a Special Administrative Region in China, what should be Hong Kong's direction and when do we take our first step to attain the goals of sustainable development as specified in the Rio Declaration? Maybe we have emphasised too much the 'two-systems' arrangements without paying due attention to the 'one-country' context of our environment. Infrastructure development and environmental protection in Hong Kong cannot stand alone without taking into account those efforts made by other parts of the Mainland. Some may argue that greater integration of Hong Kong with the Pearl River Delta would result in reduced competitiveness of the Hong Kong economy (Laquian 1996). However, we must widen our scope to view that environmental protection and infrastructure coordination are the ultimate factors for a 'win-win' scenario. With increased interactions with the cities in the Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong is expected to face more and more cross-jurisdiction problems related to infrastructure development and environmental protection in the coming years. It may also be predictable that more and more stakeholders (such as fishermen, manufacturers, green group representatives and academics) will be involved in formulating the development and environmental strategies in the region. To absorb new ideas and independent views from the general public, there is an urgent need in setting up an advisory body which comprises representatives at different levels from adjoining cities and areas. The Council of Government in United States (Bollens and Schmandt 1982) and the Advisory Council on the Environment in Hong Kong (Lam 1997), for example, have proved to be effective bodies in studying, discussing and determining the best solution for the various cross-jurisdiction problems. Considering that Hong Kong contributes 8-10% of water pollution in the Pearl River Estuary (Ho and Wang 1997), and nearly half of the gaseous pollutants in the Deep Bay catchment (Qian et al 1997), and, that we are ironically breathing the air diffused from the Pearl River Delta and consuming the water and seafood imported from Guangdong, we must take immediate actions to coordinate infrastructure development and environmental protection such that the regional goals of sustinable development would not be jeopardized.
Dr. Kin-chung Ho is Programme Leader in Environmental Studies, The Open University of Hong Kong, and Dr. Chi-sum Man is former Researcher, the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute and now Chief Executive Officer, Green Power. |