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HEALTH
More than 6,000 employees of the Urban Services Department are engaged in street cleansing and the removal of refuse and night- soil. Over 2,000 tons of refuse and 100 tons of nightsoil are collected daily. About 650 tons of refuse from Hong Kong Island are normally disposed of daily in the oil-fired incinerator at Kennedy Town (operated by the Public Works Department). Refuse from the main- land is conveyed by vehicle to Gin Drinker's Bay, Tsuen Wan, in the New Territories, for disposal there by controlled tipping. A second incinerator came into use at the close of the year at Lai Chi Kok in Kowloon. Planning is in hand for two more incinerators for Kowloon.
The mechanization of cleansing services continued in 1968, four new mechanical street sweepers being added to the fleet. Some 138 refuse collection vehicles were in use daily, supplemented by 29 prime-movers and 81 trailers. In addition, 29 street-washing vehicles were employed to clean roads, lanes, gutters, footpaths, bus stops and hawker areas.
The change in social and living conditions over the past few years has resulted in a switch from wood-burning stoves in houses, tenements and restaurants, to the use of kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas and town gas. This in turn has resulted in an accumulation of junk formerly burned as fuel and now dumped in public places. To cope with this problem, six specially designed 'pantechnicon' lorries, each with an increased capacity for junk removal, were added to the fleet. These vehicles, with three refuse collection vehicles, six lorries and four tippers working a total of 26 shifts per week, were employed to remove a daily average of 120 lorry loads of boxes, crates and other household junk for disposal.
The nightsoil collection service continues to diminish gradually as pre-war property is demolished and replaced by modern buildings with waterborne sanitation. 16,730 gallons of nightsoil were collected daily from 18,055 floors with dry latrines and from 2,178 temporary latrine compartments on building sites, squatter and licensed reset- tlement areas. Thirty-four specialized vehicles and three tanker- barges were employed on this service.
An important task of the Hygiene Division of the Urban Services Department is the regular inspection of some 5,639 licensed premises such as restaurants, fresh provision shops and food