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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
is being reclaimed at Gin Drinkers Bay in the New Territories, some five miles west of the urban area of Kowloon. Since the dump first opened in September 1955 some 520,000 square feet of land have already been reclaimed.
Only about two-thirds of the buildings in the urban area have water-borne sanitation, and the conservancy section provides for the collection and disposal of nightsoil from nearly 45,000 floors with dry latrines. This section employs a staff of about 1,600 male and female workers, operating at night-time with nine specially- designed dumb barges, and sixteen specialized motor vehicles. More than 68,000 cubic yards of nightsoil were collected. Most of it was delivered by barges towed to the Tsuen Wan Maturation Station from where, after processing, it is delivered by the Vegeta- ble Marketing Organization to New Territories farmers for use as fertilizer.
NEW TERRITORIES
The Scavenging service provided by the District Administration in the New Territories is a two-fold operation. In the larger town- ships, the scavenging service is organized on a basis similar to that in the urban areas of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon with regular collections of refuse and with street-sweeping patrols. At the same time a form of rural sanitation is practised in the more remote villages where the provision of adequate scavenging services presents an entirely different problem.
Scavenging in the townships is as frequent as the present limited staff and facilities permit, the refuse being dumped at Gin Drinkers Bay, Tai Po, Au Tau and Sun Hui. For the more remote areas, mobile gangs on land rovers provide a coverage for a number of the smaller villages which are within striking distance of the main roads. The refuse collected in these villages is usually burnt or buried on the spot. Three incinerators have been built at Sha Tau Kok, on Peng Chau, and at Mui Wo, and more are planned.