SCMP – June 8, 2012
More Letters …….
I have noted observations by some correspondents about the lack of compliance regarding smoking in bars and eating and drinking on the MTR.
To this list, please add taxis, which leave motors running summer and winter at taxi stands and, more importantly, the dumping of household rubbish in refuse bins in the street.
This issue of rubbish disposal is particularly topical, and it should be noted the free service provided by our street cleaners is truly heroic.
The compliance notice on street bins threatens a fine of HK$5,000, but unfortunately, the sign itself is not seen as deterrent enough.
Why would any residents consider paying to have their rubbish removed when they know someone will collect it for free if they dump it on the street? The fear of confrontation seems to haunt our enforcement officers. It has rendered them impotent and made the law a joke.
Try to get information regarding the number of prosecutions for eating and drinking on the MTR or dumping household rubbish on street corners, and you will be fobbed off or ignored.
This information should be in the public domain, but the numbers are obviously so small, they serve only to highlight the officers’ paper-tiger personalities.
Paul Brownlie, Fanling