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harbour where the tidal stream is very considerable, should meet the case both aesthetically and medically.
MR. BERNACCHI:-What would the position be as to sewage farms for Kowloon?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS:-Mr. Chairman, we are thinking of them very seriously in areas in the New Territories, where we are producing feasibility reports for large new towns where the tidal stream is sluggish or non-existent. To take an example, say, Sha Tin, if one were to develop it into a big town it would clearly be unsuitable to discharge crude sewage into the inlet there because it would not disperse. We would have to think of another means of sewage disposal and I would say that it would be a sewage farm rather than chlorination.
MR. SALES:-Mr. Chairman, why were the figures for September used as a basis for this reply?
ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES: Mr. Chairman, I used these figures because my impression was that they were of use to the reply, based as it was on this question of pollution of bathing beaches.
MR. SALES:-Mr. Chairman, is the Vice-Chairman not aware that the Urban Amenities Select Committee is given such information periodically and there have been periods when beaches on the south side of the Island have been very badly polluted?
ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES: Mr. Chairman, I am aware of this and I am also aware that the results vary considerably during different periods of the year. These tests, which have been taken, have only been taken at a certain time of the day. They have not been detailed tests at all. They have not been tests which have gone through all phases of the tide. They have been taken, as I said, just at one period of the tide and it might well be that if more detailed tests were taken, a higher degree of contamination might be revealed.
MR. SALES:-Mr. Chairman, I wish to thank the Vice-Chairman for his reply. May I say that I am also aware and conscious of these variations of conditions. It is simply because of such variations that the harbour is not as filthy now as it was last summer. Government has been saved by the fact that the tide runs the other way-away from the Hong Kong harbour. We have been concerned with outfalls around the harbour. May I ask you, Sir, what precautionary measures, if any, are being taken by Government to prevent excessive pollution of the beaches on the south side of the Island?
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ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES: Mr. Chairman, I think the tests which have been taken over a period of years indicate that some of the beaches on the south side of the Island are contaminated and are polluted at times by sewage.
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, this is not a request for an expression of opinion but for a statement of fact. With the increasing population on the south side of the Island, is this condition not likely to deteriorate?
ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-Mr. Chairman, with an increased population on the south side of the Island, there will inevitably be more sewage discharged into coastal waters, but that may not mean that the waters will become heavily polluted, with the strength of the tides as they are.
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS:-Mr. Chairman, could I add something to that which might answer Mr. SALES' point? In certain areas—I cannot specify them all off the cuff—but certainly in Repulse Bay, Stanley and Deep Water Bay, they are served by septic tanks or Imhoff tanks which do give a certain degree of purification.
MR. SALES:-Mr. Chairman, I do not wish to put both the Vice-Chairman and the Director of Public Works on the spot in public. So may I suggest that this matter be seriously referred to the two Select Committees concerned, particularly as we would like to know what definite precautionary measures Government contemplates taking in respect of the areas which are not yet so badly polluted.
(5) DR. R. H. S. LEE asked the following question:
Will the Chairman give a progress report on the recruitment of both senior and junior staff for the City Hall Library? Can he give a satisfactory explanation why it has taken so long in sending out even advertisements for these posts?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
There are at present: one vacancy for Library Adviser; three vacancies for Assistant Librarian, Class I; and two vacancies for Assistant Librarian, Class II.
The post of Library Adviser has been offered to a candidate recommended by the Ministry of Overseas Development and his decision is expected shortly.
The three vacancies for Assistant Librarian, Class I were advertised in "The Times" on 19th January, 1965 as the qualification required, that is, Associateship of the Library
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