Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Arena served plastic bottled water to VIPs at World Snooker event despite ban, Greenpeace says
Hong Kong Free Press
Plastic bottled water was served to VIP guests watching the World Grand Prix snooker tournament at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Arena despite banning containers, Greenpeace has said.
Greenpeace said on Sunday that the Kai Tak Arena management had “violated its own rules” by providing plastic bottled water to VIPs while banning people from bringing drinks into the venue, which opened on March 1 as part of the HK$30 billion Kai Tak Sports Park.
Hong Kong held the World Grand Prix at the 10,000-seat Kai Tak Arena from March 4 to 9, with Australian former world champion Neil Robertson winning the title in a sweeping 10-0 victory against England’s Stuart Bingham on the final day of the tournament.
Greenpeace said they found that organisers provided plastic bottled water to VIP guests last Wednesday and Friday, despite a notice at the entrance saying that people were not allowed to bring “any containers” into the venue.
Photos provided by Greenpeace showed plastic bottles, disposable coffee cups, and reusable water bottles were left at the entrance of the Kai Tak Arena, while almost every seat at the VIP section had one plastic water bottle.
Lawmaker Michael Tien and his brother, former lawmaker James Tien, were seen sitting in the VIP section in the photo provided by Greenpeace.
Greenpeace campaigner Leanne Tam said Kai Tak’s arrangement was unfair and contradictory to its own safety rules. Sports commissioner George Tsoi previously said that outside containers would be banned from facilities at the Kai Tai Sports Park due to “safety concerns.”
“With organisers allowing plastic bottles… inside the venue [the Kai Tak Arena], such safety concerns have been debunked,” Tam said in a Chinese-language statement.
She also said that, by giving out plastic bottled water, Kai Tak risked creating unnecessary waste. Last month, Greenpeace estimated that the Kai Tak Sports Park could produce over 1.2 million disposable tableware and cups in a year.
Tam urged the management of the Kai Tak Sports Park to reconsider its rules: “It is the opinion of Greenpeace that the Kai Tak Sports Park should allow reusable cups into its facilities as soon as possible while balancing safety and environmental concerns, so that audience could have non-disposable options,” according to the press release.
HKFP has reached out to the Kai Tak Sports Park for comment.
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