Excessive power consumption, high traffic with unfiltered diesel fuel and coal-fired power plants affect the air quality in the 6,8 million city located in south-east China.
Caused by smog Hong Kong has poor visibility 45 per cent of the time, sometimes even the other side of the harbour is unvisible. Researchers concluded the cost in lost productivity and health care was 2.57 billion US dollars a year.
A report by three universities released this year states 1,600 people a year were dying of pollution-related illnesses in Hong Kong. According to EU standards it is ‘very unhealthy’ if there are 50 micrograms of pollutants per cubic meter of air, where Hong Kong’s very unhealthy level is reached at 180 micrograms. Air Pollution Index, Hong Kong
The “Lights Out” protest was the idea of Alastair Robins, a British expatriate, who says he is fed up with what he calls “the government’s failure to clean the air.”
Tuesday, at exactly 8:00 p.m., 2006-08-08, employees in more than 40 branches of Hong Kong’s biggest coffee chain, Pacific Coffee, switched off floor lamps and dimmed other lights for three minutes to join the territory wide campaign against worsening air pollution.
People in homes, offices, bars, restaurants and shops all over the territory joined in, but most lights were not dimmed.
I’m generally disappointed that more lights didn’t go out (downtown) but I’m proud that we at least got our message across, Alastair Robins said after the brief protest.
The city is facing a lost of attractiveness. Business executives are concerned that pollution is driving businesses away from the city, and making it harder to recruit managers from abroad.
While lifestyle was an important factor before, now hedge funds flee Hong Kong and move to Singapore. Managers constitute they don’t want to expose their children any longer to the smog in Hong Kong.
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