Question No. 8
REPLY BY THE SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE
TO A QUESTION BY HON. CHEUNG YAN-LUNG, MBE, SBSTJ, JP IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 6TH FEBRUARY 1985
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Question: Will the Government inform this Council what
are the causes of the persistent heavy pollution of the rivers in the New Territories in general and of the Yuen Long Nullah in particular?
Sir,
There are three major causes of pollution of the
watercourses in the New Territories. First and most important
is the indiscriminate disposal of farm waste, mainly the
excreta of pigs, chickens and ducks, at a rate of about
2,000 tonnes per day by direct or indirect flushing into
nearby watercourses.
This is the main cause of the noxious
appearance and smell of many streams in the New Territories.
Secondly, outside new town boundaries, where there are generally
no communal sewage disposal facilities, wastes arising
from the human population in some villages and squatter
areas add to the pollution load on watercourses.
Thirdly,
many industrial establishments have rudimentary or non-
existent waste treatment facilities and thus contribute to
the pollution by discharging their effluents more or less
directly into the environment. All of these problems are
exacerbated by the general lack of flushing flow through
the watercourses during much of the year.
12.