AS Hong Kong's worsening air pollution threatens residents' health and the city's tourism, its Environmental Protection Department reported yesterday 23 pollution convictions recorded in February.

More than half the convictions were under the Air Pollution Control Ordinance.

Friends of the Earth, an environmental advocacy organization, said the number of low visibility days at the Hong Kong International Airport, where tourists get the first impression of the city, reached a record high last year. And the number of clear days in the downtown area is even less.

Friends of the Earth said it has interviewed 129 tour guides between March 8 and 10, during which half of the interviewees rated the air quality of Hong Kong as either severe or very severe and nearly 40 percent said tourists had complained about air pollution.

Emissions of vehicles and power plants, as well as pollutants from the Pearl River Delta are considered the main reasons for the bad air of the city.

A survey published by Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Lung Foundation said that 30 percent of elderly citizens over the age of 70 complained about respiratory problems in 2003 because of bad air, compared with 4.9 percent in 1991, a six-fold increase.

Respiratory experts have urged the government to take immediate measures in air pollution control, including a smoking ban in all catering services by 2007, the most difficult part for Hong Kong's long delayed dream of smoke free.

More experts are concerned that the severe air pollution will not only harm the health of the public but also damage the image of Hong Kong's tourism industry, an important source of revenue for the city.

Source: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2006/03/22/253030/Hong_Kong_convicts_for_pollution_as_air_worsens.htm