Petition vs street lights in Sai Kung Country Park

The Highways Department, in their wisdom, has decided to re-start work on the installation and illumination of 80 lights along Pak Tam Road between Lady MacLehose Village and Uk Tau in Sai Kung Country Park.

The majority of these lights are on stretches of road through Sai Kung East Country Park that are uninhabited (by humans – but wildlife are numerous). In the opinion of most residents, the lights are totally unnecessary and they would have a direct impact on not only the wildlife in the area, but our carbon footprint.

Over the course of 3 meetings with residents of the park, the Highways Department have not agreed to any reduction in the number of lights – only in the design and wattage of the lights. They have “justified” the lights by a number of erroneous or disputable statements & claims.

The cost to the taxpayer for the additional lights and resdesign will be $1.4Million and the department rationalizes this by saying that they will ultimately reduce the overall annual cost of electricity.

They are now applying for an “excavation permit” which will take one month. After that – the Department insists that they will go ahead will the works.

There is more information and a petition that you can sign at: http:// tinyurl.com/2s455u

We are also encouraging people to write letters to the Director of the Highways Dept., the new Secty for the Environment and Secty for Transportation & Housing as well as the Director of Audit. Addresses are at: http://www.exploresaikung.com/documents/ContactsandConnections070706.pdf

PLEASE forward this to all friends and colleagues who care about conservation and maintaining the rural nature of our parks because this step could be but a stepping stone to much much more.