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THE ENVIRONMENT
the control of pollution is fragmented, limited in scope and generally unsatisfactory. To remedy this, consultants started work at the beginning of the year to advise on the principles to be incorporated in a general environmental protection ordinance cover- ing all aspects of pollution. They have submitted their first technical report and it is anticipated that, arising from this, at least part of the comprehensive environmental legislation necessary to tackle Hong Kong's pollution problems effectively will be enacted in 1976.
Meantime, in February 1975, amendments to regulations under the Clean Air Ordinance came into operation. They related to furnaces, ovens and chimneys, and the restriction and measurement of smoke emission.
Results of aerial monitoring carried out by the air pollution control unit of the Labour Department continued to show a significant reduction in sulphur dioxide con- centration during the year. At Hung Hom, the level of sulphur dioxide was only about one thirteenth of the maximum permitted level of 50 parts per hundred million set by the former Advisory Committee on Air Pollution. Readings at the station at Queen Elizabeth Hospital were about two parts per hundred million, while readings in Sham Shui Po and at the Central Market were about one part per hundred million.
Although the unit relies more on constructive advice than stringent enforcement, it is still sometimes necessary to initiate prosecutions under the Clean Air Ordinance and its subsidiary regulations against persistent offenders. In 1975 it was necessary to prosecute 59 cases, with fines ranging from $50 to $3,000.
Farming Wastes
The Agriculture and Fisheries Department continued to advise farmers on how to dispose of their wastes in order to cause the minimum amount of pollution of watercourses. During the year there was some reduction in the problem, but this was due largely to a fall in the number of pigs and poultry rather than the adoption of pollution control measures by farmers. However, considerably more use is now being made of poultry manure as a fertiliser due to the increase in the cost of artificial fertilisers.
In February, another visit to Hong Kong was made by Professor P. C. G. Isaac, the World Health Organisation consultant advising the government on the control of pollution from agricultural wastes. His purpose was to review progress made in tackling this problem since his first visit. Progress was not up to expectations, and the major factor influencing this was the difficulty in recruiting suitably qualified staff for the agricultural waste treatment unit which is still well under strength.
The poultry manure drier set up at Pat Heung was, by the latter part of the year, processing a regular quantity of manure. Trials are being undertaken by the Agricul ture and Fisheries Department to look into the use of the product as an animal feedstuff and fertiliser. A large amount has been distributed among interested farmers for them to assess its value. So far reactions to the use of the dried manure have been cautious but promotion work by the department is continuing.