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day. The waste disposal plan setting out the framework for management of all waste types was published in late 1989. The plan specifies the waste disposal strategy for the territory and sets out a programme for phasing out old facilities and the provision of new facilities and services.
Sewerage master plans
The existing provision of sewerage in Hong Kong is inadequate. There is a complete absence of sewerage in many developed areas or villages in the rural areas. In areas with some sewerage there is widespread under capacity, heavy siltation and numerous expedient connections of sewage discharges to the storm drains, particularly in the older industrial areas.
To overcome the problem, the government is preparing a total of 16 comprehensive sewage master plans covering all sewage catchments in Hong Kong. These plans form the basis for providing adequate sewer networks to collect and convey sewage to the local treatment facilities. By the end of 1992, eight sewerage master plan studies had been completed while six were part complete.
During 1992, the 'first aid' measures proposed in the Tolo Harbour catchment study on unsewered developments were completed. Construction of the sewerage facilities proposed in both the East Kowloon and the Hong Kong Island South sewerage master plan studies was under way. Detailed designs of the proposed sewerage facilities for Tolo Harbour, North West Kowloon, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi, Port Shelter, Yuen Long and Kam Tin were in progress.
Sewage treatment and disposal
Shau Kei Wan screening plant and outfall was commissioned in February 1992, and the north west Kowloon sewage treatment and disposal project was completed late in 1992.
Construction of sewerage improvements proposed in the east Kowloon sewerage master plan began in March 1992 and are scheduled for completion late in 1994. The improvement work includes the provision of a relief sewer, dry weather flow interceptors, two pumping stations and associated sewage pumping mains.
A new sewerage system for South Hong Kong Island, proposed in the sewerage master plan study for that area, is being built. The system includes an underground sewage treatment works for Stanley, a screening plant and sewerage at Shek O and a number of pumping stations, one of which will pump sewage from the Repulse Bay area to an existing treatment facility at Aberdeen.
Tolo Harbour effluent export scheme, which is an important element of the Tolo Harbour Action Plan, is now under construction. It aims to reduce the amount of pollution entering the particularly sensitive waters of Tolo Harbour. Stage 1 of the work between Sha Tin and Kai Tak nullah is scheduled for completion in 1993 and completion of Stage 2 between Tai Po and Sha Tin is expected in 1995. On completion, treated effluent from both Tai Po and Sha Tin sewage treatment works will be removed entirely from the Tolo Harbour catchment and discharged to less sensitive waters.
Landfills
Most municipal solid waste is currently disposed of at three landfills, located at Tseung Kwan O, Shuen Wan and Pillar Point Valley, while the rest is incinerated. The current
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