In an egregious case of littering by someone who’s paid to know better, a city cleaner has been filmed tossing a bag of trash straight into the ocean, no doubt contributing to Hong Kong’s widely-publicized problem with marine pollution.
Video uploaded to Facebook yesterday shows the cleaner, cigarette in mouth, casually lugging a plastic bag full of what looks like bottles, cans and other rubbish to the water’s edge and kicking it off.
Although it is not immediately clear where the video was taken, eagle-eyed netizens identified the spot as behind the marine police base in Aberdeen.
Several versions of the video were posted online yesterday, and have been shared more than 11,000 times. On one video, the view count was 12,000 as of this morning.
It is not clear if the cleaner is working for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), or if he works for a company contracted by the FEHD to do the cleaning.
One person lamented: “In the past when the government looked after the cleaning it used to be a secure job and there was a sense of responsibility, now the government have outsourced that to companies in the mainland who only care about money.”
Some netizens remarked “now we know why Hong Kong smells so bad” while others called for the cleaner to be fired or arrested.
Under the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness and Obstruction) Ordinance, marine littering can land you a HK$1,500 fine (US$191).
An FEHD spokesperson responding to inquiries by Apple Daily said they are carrying out an investigation into the incident, and that they may consider issuing a warning or suspending the cleaning company contracted to do the cleaning.
