Plastic Nurdle spill – Hong Kong – where were the press?

There has been much criticism of the government for their handling of the spill of Plastic Nurdles, much of it unfair and unfounded.

Neither Gary, Tracey or myself are unhappy with the Government’s response to this crisis, even though this is one of the main angles of all press queries. The people we are really disappointed with are the press, for their lack of interest in investigating and reporting the incident and their sole interest in trying to embarrass the Government. We pleaded with the press to report on what we told them was a crisis and they weren’t interested.

Time table of events

25 July – the spill was discovered in Discovery Bay.

26 July – SCMP and HK Standard were notified.

27 July – report on the incident appears in the SCMP, hidden away in the City Section of the SCMP.

28 July – release to both English and Chinese press in Hong Kong, as well as international press.

Response from the international press – Not an interesting story for us, unless you can get dirt on the Government or SINOPEC.

A few days later, all hell breaks loose.

8 August – Editorial in SCMP – Silence on plastic pellets bred unease.

Request to the editor of the SCMP

Well Mr. Editor, you are right – can you please explain to the public of Hong Kong the reasons for your silence. Perhaps you could contact the editors of the other papers in Hong Kong as well and seek their explanations – the public have a right to know!

Message to the international press

You need to improve your hiring techniques, because at the moment your staff are not up to the job.

Message to everyone in Hong Kong

Ask yourself this - How can there be a cover up, when the press were fully in the picture from Day 2 of the discovery – the real people who have failed Hong Kong are the press, because they are not interested in facts, they are not capable of investigative journalism and they are incapable of recognizing a scoop, even when it is handed to them on a plate.