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ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN.
As you know, Dr. P. H. TENG has ceased to be Vice-Chairman on becoming Director of Medical and Health Services. His substantive relief in his former post has not yet arrived in the Colony and in the meantime Dr. COOMBES has been appointed in an acting capacity. May I say once again how happy we are to have you with us, Dr. COOMBES, particularly as, so I understand, you regard each of your associations with the Council as being in the nature of a honeymoon. (Laughter) (Applause).
DR. COOMBES : Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
MINUTES.
The Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 3rd September, 1963, were confirmed.
PAPERS.
THE CHAIRMAN laid upon the table the following papers: -
(1) Report on the work of the Urban Council and Urban Services Department for the month of September, 1963. (2) Report on the change of Membership of the City Hall (Policy) Select Committee.
QUESTIONS.
MR. J. L. MARDEN asked the following question : -
Because, after typhoon Faye, refuse of all sorts was particularly noticeable in the harbour and the surrounding waters of Hong Kong, what additional measures were actually taken to remove and dispose of such refuse?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
Responsibility for the harbour lies with the Director of Marine, and I have referred your question to him. He has asked me to say that it is inevitable that there will be some increase of floating refuse in the harbour during and after a typhoon, due to debris being washed down nullahs, and to high winds blowing rubbish from the shore. In the post-typhoon period the Marine Department is extremely hard-pressed restoring all services to normal. It is not possible to take special measures with regard to refuse, other than to put the three harbour scavenging sampans back into service as soon as possible after the typhoon has passed. After typhoon Faye they were in operation even before signal No. 3 was lowered.
MR. J. L. MARDEN asked the following question:-
In view of the even larger number of plastic bags visible, is it possible to ascertain the number of factories making these bags and arrange for the immediate collection of their rejects, which appear now to be dumped into the harbour or surrounding waters of the Colony?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
There are believed to be about 43 registered factories which are manufacturing plastic bags at the present time. Preliminary investigations show that rejects from these factories are in fact recovered, as the plastic has scrap value of about 35 cents a pound. The rejects after treatment can be used for making other plastic products, such as artificial flowers. Since the plastic has recovery value probably very little is in fact disposed of indiscriminately, and it seems unlikely that these factories are a major source of the bags floating in the harbour. However, a more detailed assessment will be made of plastic bag disposal from factories during the trade refuse survey to which I refer in my reply to the next question.
MR. J. L. MARDEN asked the following question:-
How many more refuse-collecting vehicles would be needed to make possible the collection of refuse from all homes and factories in Hong Kong and Kowloon?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
The removal of trade refuse is not usually effected by the Urban Services Department. If removal is undertaken by arrangement with the department a charge is made. At the present time about 100 tons a day of trade refuse is delivered direct to the barge stations or Gin Drinker's Bay refuse dump by industrial undertakings or their contractors. For the department to undertake this commitment it would require, at a very approximate estimate,
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