84
HEALTH
The abattoirs at Kennedy Town on Hong Kong Island and Cheung Sha Wan in Kowloon continued to provide a satisfactory service to the public with high standards of meat inspection and hygiene. The total number of animals slaughtered during the year at both abattoirs was 2,477,975 pigs and 140,782 cattle, the daily average being 2,645 pigs and 170 cattle at the Kennedy Town Abattoir and 4,144 pigs and 215 cattle at the Cheung Sha Wan Abattoir.
Installation of a third pig dressing line at the Cheung Sha Wan Abattoir began in August and other improvements at both abattoirs, including a third pig dressing line at Kennedy Town, will follow. Planning of a third abattoir in the New Territories was still being considered to meet the requirements of the expanding population and new towns. The private slaughterhouses at Tai Po and Yuen Long continued to operate satisfactorily. Specially trained USD health inspectors inspect the slaughtered animals both in government abattoirs and in the private slaughterhouses.
In the New Territories, environmental hygiene, cleansing, hawkers and markets, recreation and amenities, pest control, cemeteries and crematoria and slaughterhouses are the responsibility of the New Territories region of the Urban Services Department. Unlike the regions covering the urban areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon, which are under the aegis of the Urban Council, the New Territories region works directly as part of the government machine. The region maintains close co-operation with the New Territories Administration and other government departments.
During the year, the extension of services and facilities such as incinerators, aqua privies and refuse collection points continued. Some improvement to the environment of the New Territories was achieved by further extensions of cleansing services and the introduction of gangs to tackle the problem of polluted nullahs and stream courses. Planning for the various urban services facilities and services essential for the balanced development of the three new towns of Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun and Sha Tin demanded increasingly close attention.
The proliferation of hawkers in the major townships remained a problem calling for urgent attention and action was in progress to deal with this problem by providing off-street sites where possible. To strengthen control staff on the ground a general duties team, consisting of 150 labourers plus supervisory staff, was formed in Tsuen Wan on an experimental basis. This corresponded with the formation of similar teams in the urban areas.
Responsibility for 'offensive trades' in the New Territories previously that of the New Territories Administration, shifted to the Urban Services Department. The change reflected the need to pay more attention to reducing the dangers of environ- mental pollution that are commonly associated with such trades. It is planned that eventually all offensive trade establishments in the New Territories will be contained in designated areas where adequate protective measures against possible pollution will be available.
During the year the problem of maintaining adequate refuse dumps in the face of local opposition caused some measure of difficulty, though the introduction of greatly improved controlled tipping techniques seemed likely to ease such opposition.