HK and Guangdong nearing air quality targets coughcoughretch

Environmental protection officials in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and neighboring Guangdong Province said on Monday they are confident of achieving their targets to reduce air pollution by 55 percent from 1997 levels within the next three years.

Reviewing their efforts to clean up the environment over the past four years, Li Qing, director of Guangdong's environmental protection department, and Edward Yau, permanent secretary for Hong Kong's environmental protection department, said they were on target to reach their goals for 2010.

Based on a report released by both authorities in October, the daily average content of sulfur dioxide in Guangdong and Hong Kong was 0.0715 mg per cubic meter of air, lower than the national standard of 0.5 mg.

Levels of other pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, ozone and inhalable particulates in the two regions are also lower than national standards, the report said.

Hong Kong warned people with heart or lung problems to avoid outdoor activities on Friday as the territory experienced one of its most polluted days of the year, with the hills across the harbor almost invisible.

Pollution monitoring stations registered "very high" readings in several spots around the former British colony, and the Environmental Protection Department said the poor air was expected to continue.

Hong Kong's air has become increasingly clogged with pollutants from cars, ships, power plants and a booming manufacturing sector across the border in China's Guangdong province.

Air Pollution Index (API) readings surpassed 101, entering what the EPD considers "very high," at several sites, including the Central business district, which hit 150 by mid-afternoon, and the Causeway Bay shopping area, which hit 127.