PRIMARY PRODUCTION
year following the government's decision to reclaim more land there. Plans are now in hand to reprovision these three markets on an interim basis on the proposed West Kowloon Reclamation.
The Engineering Division of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department undertakes the demolition of disused, polluted agricultural weirs, carries out the cleansing and desilting of polluted irrigation weir sites together with the operation and maintenance of departmental farm waste treatment facilities.
Mining
The Mines Division of the Labour Department, the administration of which was trans- ferred to the Civil Engineering Services Department in 1990, enforces legislation and safety regulations relating to mining, quarrying and explosives. It processes mining and prospecting applications and inspects mining and prospecting areas, stone quarries, blasting sites and explosives stores. The mining lease for the extraction of feldspar and kaolin expired at the middle of 1990 and the ex-lessee has since applied for a mining licence.
The division also controls the possession, conveyance, storage, manufacture and use of explosives in Hong Kong, including the delivery of explosives from government depots to blasting sites, and issues shot-firers' blasting certificates. In addition, it manages govern- ment explosives depots which provide bulk storage facilities for imported as well as locally-manufactured explosives.
Site formation projects and stone quarries were the largest users of explosives in 1990 when the overall consumption of explosives in the territory decreased by 16.8 per cent due to the slowdown in the construction industry in early 1990. Total consumption was 4 220
tonnes.
Storage space was provided for imported fireworks for the Lunar New Year fireworks display in January. The division continued to provide transit storage facilities for explo- sives and temporary storage for confiscated fireworks awaiting destruction.
L
125