Hong Kong people Sunday were called to support the clean-air initiative by Donald Tsang, the chief executive of Hong Kong, as the air quality of the famous harbor city is getting worse.

In a letter to the Hong Kong people, Donald Tsang said the local air is more polluted than it was 10 years ago, and the government is working hard to deal with the issue quickly.

He said he will meet his Guangdong counterparts next month to discuss clean-air measures.

In Hong Kong, he said, the government has cracked down on smoky vehicles, and encouraged taxis and minibuses to switch to liquefied petroleum gas. Steps have also been taken to make power plants more environmentally-friendly.

Meanwhile, he called on the Hong Kong people to make their own contribution to reducing pollutants, saying the air quality concerns everyone's life in Hong Kong.

He said if each Hong Kong citizen reduces their electricity consumption, power generators would burn less fuel and emit less pollutants.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2006)