20090720 舊區「士紳化」街坊失至親

clipped from hk.apple.nextmedia.com 【本報訊】舊區重建是好是壞？不同人可能有不同答案，但對重建區內居住的老街坊來說，就可能是壞事。在筲箕灣南安街住了 30年的張婆婆說，重建除令她的朋友四散，也令她失去至親。有受重建影響的居民批評，市建局重建時完全不理居民感受及反對聲音，「市建局重建根本就係士紳化，街坊只可以搬走，好無奈」。 在俗稱「喜帖街」的利東街住了 48年的超哥，早年與一眾街坊向市建局提出「啞鈴方案」，建議保留及復修重建區內部份舊唐樓，保留街道特色之餘，又可讓受影響居民返回原區居住，但被當局拒絕。他強調不是反對重建，但市建局目前重建策略是將舊區「士紳化」，即舊樓重建後都變成豪宅，重建區變成中上階層的住宅區，原來的舊區居民只有搬離住了數十年的舊居，有的惟有遷往較邊陲的新發展區，重新適應環境。 另一受重建影響的張婆婆，不但要重新適應新居住環境，更要適應一個人的孤獨生活。她說，受房協收樓重建影響，她與丈夫 04年搬離住了 30年的筲箕灣南安街單位，丈夫疑因不適應新居環境，搬走半年後過身，「以前住嗰間屋有成 900呎，家間屋就細咗一半，佢（丈夫）成日都好激氣。」張婆婆明白，社會要進步，重建是其中一個方法，但同時令她最感無奈，「啲朋友各散東西，就連至親都失去埋，好唔捨得。」

20090720 市區重建樓價三級跳 呎價動輒近萬 趕絕原居民

clipped from hk.apple.nextmedia.com 【本報訊】關乎全港舊樓命運及市區重建方向的《市區重建策略》，正進行公眾諮詢。有檢討委員會委員認為，過去多年來，重建不但破壞了舊區居民的社區網絡，重建後新建的豪宅單位售價更貴得嚇人，每呎動輒 8,000至 9,000元，「重建之後啲樓價可以三級跳，叫原本住喺嗰區嘅人點樣住？」有受重建影響的居民更批評，市建局重建是將舊區「士紳化」，迫使窮人無法在原區生活。　記者：馮永堅 標籤成「有錢人嘅社區」 中原分區營業經理張永泉表示，灣仔尚翹峰、嘉薈軒等未重建前，同區 40年樓齡舊樓每呎售價不到 3,000元，但隨着重建地盤興建的都是呎價動輒 8,000至 9,000元的豪宅，令豪宅旁未拆卸的舊樓身價勁升，「家啲舊樓通常都要 5,000蚊一呎。」 舊樓變豪宅的同時，重建區通常會引入高消費生活模式。何喜華指，以灣仔和昌大押為例（重建地盤建成嘉薈軒，和昌大押則復修），復修後即變成高檔食肆，平民百姓根本無法負擔一餐數百元的消費，「就連嗰幾條街嘅茶餐廳都貴過人。」他說，過往不少重建區被標籤成「有錢人先可用嘅社區」，低下層無法分享重建成果，是他們反對重建原因之一。何喜華希望市建局重建時，要顧及受重建影響居民感受，及盡量安排他們可原區安置。 今年 5月開始，《市區重建策略》公眾諮詢曾進行多次巡迴展覽、公眾論壇及專題討論，但參與討論及發表意見的公眾人士不多。何喜華指，諮詢期今年底屆滿，擔心公眾現時少參與討論，日後推行新重建政策時反對聲音會大增，呼籲市民多發表對舊居重建意見。詳情可瀏覽《市區重建策略》網址 《重建前》 灣仔莊士敦道舊樓 《重建後》 嘉薈軒 **新樓呎價： 9,300元 《重建前》 灣仔舊街市及舊樓 《重建後》 尚翹峰 **新樓呎價： 9,000元 《重建前》 荃灣七街 《重建後》 萬景峯 **新樓呎價： 6,250元

20090712 12 killed, 13 missing in SW China flood

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn CHONGQING: Rain-triggered floods and landslides have left 12 people dead and 13 missing in Chongqing Municipality over the past three days, the local flood-control authority said Sunday. Seven of a 35-member tourist group were killed by sudden mountain torrents in an undeveloped canyon in Wanzhou District Saturday, and 12 members of the self-organized expedition remained missing as of Sunday, Chongqing's flood control and drought relief headquarters said. border=0>Continuous rain began to pelt northeastern Chongqing at about 8 p.m. Thursday, affecting 151,600 people in 106 townships and forcing 3,883 people to evacuate as of Sunday. Heavy rainfall flooded 9,000 hectares of cropland and damaged infrastructure facilities, incurring more than 100 million yuan (US$14.6million) in economic loss. A man is rescued out of a canyon where sudden mountain torrents killed seven of a tourist group, in Wanzhou District of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Sunday July 11, 2009. [Xinhua]

20090706 Oxfam to G8: Climate change will spread hunger(2)

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn Among the worst hit are nations that grow rice, the world's most common food. Yields are predicted to drop an average 10 percent for every 1 degree C rise in temperature in countries like the Philippines, where production could fall 50-70 percent as early as 2020 At the same time, China will grow more rice as the area of warm temperatures spreads Corn is another staple that will be widely affected by climate change since it is particularly vulnerable to water stress UN estimates suggest as much as $200 billion a year may be needed by 2030 for developing water resources in increasingly arid regions, shifting agriculture to more suitable crops, building sea walls to protect coastal cities from rising sea levels and helping fishermen whose stocks would be affected by acidification of the ocean The world's agricultural potential is less than 60 percent exploited: there is still enough land to feed everyone Modern agricultural methods, irrigation and fertilizers could dramatically lift yields

20090706 Oxfam to G8: Climate change will spread hunger(1)

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn AMSTERDAM: Chronic hunger may be "the defining human tragedy of this century," as climate change causes growing seasons to shift, crops to fail, and storms and droughts to ravage fields, an advocacy group said. Oxfam International released a report Monday as leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) wealthiest nations prepare to meet in Italy this week, with an agenda to include both food security and climate change. Rich countries in temperate climate zones, such as northern Europe and parts of the United States, will benefit from warmer weather and more rainfall, but far more people in hotter, poorer countries will face more erratic and expensive food supplies, said the British-based nonprofit group. Farmers have begun changing their crops in the tropics, where a 1 degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) temperature shift can make traditional crops unsustainable. Unpredictable rainfall makes their choices of new crops a gamble, the report said.

20090706 China tries to make officials see green

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn China's leadership recently decided to assess the performance of government officials not just by how fast they managed to spur economic growth but also by the environmental soundness of that growth. ,k In early June, Premier Wen Jiabao affirmed that China would put in place carbon emissions reduction targets in national development programs. In other words, China would assess its economic performance by how much less carbon it would emit per unit of GDP growth. "To reduce carbon intensity, we should focus on low-carbon technologies and clean solutions," He said. "That will be the new economic engine for China's further growth." Liu said that new energy programs would involve investment of trillions and that new energy output was likely to exceed the targets set by the nation's overall energy and renewable energy plans.

20090706 Costa Rica: World's happiest place

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn BEIJING: Costa Rica earned the name of "the happiest place" in the world for its most content people, ecological footprint and life expectancy, according to a new Happy Planet Index (HPI) published on Saturday. The "Happy Planet Index" seeking countries with the most content people and tiny carbon footprint was conducted by an independent research group in Britain. Among the total 143 countries surveyed, Costa Rica stands out for the highest levels of reported life satisfaction, a long life expectancy of 78.5 years and 99 percent of its energy coming from renewable sources. While leaders of the developed world attending G8 talks in Italy tried to find way to salvage world economy out of recession, the HPI said it may provide food for thinking as to whether wealth can truly buy happiness. the HPI takes three separate indicators - ecological footprint, life-satisfaction and life-expectancy - and then carries out complex calculations.

20090705 快樂指數香港全球排 84

clipped from hk.apple.nextmedia.com 【本報訊】是香港人生活要求高？還是大陸人太過安於現狀？倫敦志願機構 New Economics Foundation調查指出，中國人快樂指數排名 20，香港人則排第 84。調查中排名前列的都不是富庶的國家，犯罪率甚高的哥倫比亞與巴西等國，都打入十大快樂國家。 快樂並非用錢來衡量的。 New Economics Foundation的調查沒有計算國民生產總值，取而代之的是國民的壽命、開心程度、生活滿意度及環境問題等因素。全球第一是哥斯達黎加，該國的人均壽命是 78歲半，國內 99%能源都來自再生途徑。 香港全球排名 84，比生靈塗炭的伊拉克與社會動盪的伊朗都要低，是全東亞區最不快樂的地方。中國排名 20，但仍遜於同區的越南、菲律賓、印尼和寮國。歸根究柢，是因為香港人活得不夠環保。調查着重各國的環境因素， NEF成員 Nic Marks指出，想快樂，就要朝着一個低碳經濟努力，避免過度消費導致無法挽回的氣候轉變。 調查說明，香港人耗用太多地球資源。快樂指數略高於香港的英國，被批評為高碳國家，經濟學家指出，要是全人類都要活得像香港人，需要一個三倍大的地球。