Celine Sun – Updated on Jun 07, 2008 – SCMP
Drivers of more than 50 taxis, minibuses, tour buses and trucks hit the streets in Central and Wan Chai yesterday to protest against the proposed ban on stationary vehicles keeping their engines running.
The drivers said the government bill, meant to cut roadside pollution, would produce more exhaust and affect their businesses by forcing them to turn off their vehicles’ air conditioning.
The protesting drivers, organised by the Motor Transport Workers General Union, gathered around Pier 3 in Central, switching their engines on and off in unison to highlight the fumes discharged from the vehicles.
Union spokesman To Sun-tong said the emissions generated within seconds of a vehicle being started were often several times more than those produced by a running engine.
“The government asks drivers to switch off their engines for all waits longer than a minute,” he said. “It’s not saving the environment but creating more pollutants.”
Mr To, a taxi driver, said the ban would also see taxis and tour buses lose customers.
“On summer days, the temperature inside a vehicle will get to 40 degrees Celsius within three or four minutes with the engine turned off,” he said.
“It would be easy for the passengers to catch a cold in adapting to a big difference in temperature.
“Anyway, do you think people would like to get into such a hot cab?” he asked.
In a paper submitted by the Environmental Protection Department to the Legislative Council last month, the government said 76.8 per cent of the 1,349 people polled in a survey agreed to a law requiring idling engines to be turned off.
However, the union said the opinions of 5,000 drivers, handed to the authorities in March, were not reflected at all in the government’s report to Legco.
Late in the afternoon, some of the vehicles were driven from Central to Revenue Tower in Wan Chai and a protest letter submitted to the Environmental Protection Department, urging the government to hold more talks with the transport sector.