Govt Urged To Tackle Illegal Diesel At Source

Ombudsman Winnie Chiu on Thursday urged the Security Bureau to curb illegal fuelling activities at source, but the bureau said it is unable to do so under existing law and market principles.

The Ombudsman made the call after it found that oil distributors are allowed to sell Euro V diesel at wholesale prices for customers’ own use, but illegal operators had been buying the fuel and keeping it in small amounts to evade legal limits.

Chiu called on the government to step up publicity campaigns and encourage the public to report illicit fuelling activities.

She acknowledged that authorities are doing their best but the law doesn't allow the Fire Services Department (FSD) nor oil companies to track the identity of the distributors' clients.

"Under the existing regulatory framework, although the FSD has endeavoured to combat illegal fuelling stations, its hands are tied in terms of stemming the supply of fuels for these illegal stations," Chiu told a press conference.

The watchdog said the Security Bureau should look into bringing in improvement measures to combat the illegal activities at source.

But the bureau said it is not feasible.

It noted that restricting the selling of dangerous goods, such as diesel, at source would affect many people and could go against the government's principle of facilitating the market and the public.

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman also called on authorities to increase manpower and conduct more spot checks to curb illegal fuelling.

It found that the fire services’ special task force against illegal fuelling only has seven members, but there are some 350 black spots across Hong Kong.

In this respect, the bureau said it agreed with the Ombudsman and will look into its recommendations.