THE ENVIRONMENT
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territory, and sets out a programme for phasing out old facilities and for 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 and 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 sewerage 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 treatment facilities. By the end of the year, 11 sewerage master plan studies had been completed, while four were partly complete and one had yet to start.
Sewage Treatment and Disposal
The construction of improvements proposed in Stage 1 of the East Kowloon sewerage master plan continued and is scheduled for completion in mid-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 Hong Kong Island South, proposed in the sewerage master -plan study for that area, is being built. The system includes 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 treat- ment facility at Aberdeen.
Stage 1 of the Tolo Harbour effluent export scheme, which transfers the treated effluent from the Sha Tin sewage treatment works and which is an important element of the Tolo Harbour Action Plan, was scheduled for completion in 1994. It aims to reduce the amount of pollution entering Tolo Harbour. Completion of Stage 2 between Tai Po and Sha Tin is expected in 1995, when treated effluent from both the Tai Po and Sha Tin sewage treatment works will be removed entirely from the Tolo Harbour catchment, and discharged to less sensitive waters.
The Northwest New Territories sewerage scheme was completed in March 1993. Sewage generated from the Yuen Long peripheral area, covering North Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, the Tuen Mun Corridor, Tin Shui Wai, and Au Tau and Long Ping, is collected by this sewerage system for treatment before discharge to Urmston Road via an outfall.
Charging Scheme for Sewage Services
A $12 billion programme of sewage improvement schemes, to be completed by 1997, was announced in September.
It included proposals for the introduction in 1994 of a sewage services charging scheme, under which users will contribute towards the costs of rapidly improving sewage services.
The programme comprises an $8.1 billion high-priority programme, which will clean up 70 per cent of the pollution in Victoria Harbour, plus $4 billion of public works expenditure on other ongoing sewage improvement schemes.