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2. MR. LAWRENCE H. L. FUNG asked the following question (in English):-- Progress has turned Hong Kong into one gigantic construction site. Unfortunately, it has also turned Hong Kong into one gigantic dust bowl. All one has to do is to drive around and see for oneself how much left over construction material, debris, spoils from road openings are strewn all over our public roadway, clogging up road drains, creating public nuisances, and adding additional burden to our U.S.D. cleaning staff. May I know:—

(a) whether the Council ever warn or prosecute contractors for creating the above-mentioned public nuisances?

(b) whether the Council could follow the practice of other major cities in requiring contractors to deposit construction materials etc. in properly designed containers for easy removal?

DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):-This question concerns the nuisance associated with building sites and is divided into two parts.

The first part of the question is whether action is taken by the Council to deal with contractors who indiscriminately discard building debris around building sites. The simple answer is 'yes'; during the last 4 months, the City Services Department has taken out 17 prosecutions for this offence and issued warnings on no less than 76 occasions. These figures do not include cases arising from 'road openings' carried out by contractors or public utilities which are supervised by the Highways Office. The staff of the City Services Department hold regular meetings at District level with the Highways Office and colleagues from other departments to identify problem areas and to ensure co-ordinated action.

The second part of the question is whether the Council could follow the practice adopted in some countries which require building contractors to provide properly designed containers to hold building debris pending disposal. Builders' 'skips' are, in fact, sometimes used in Hong Kong for this purpose, but only rarely. Lack of space both within development sites and on-street usually precludes the use of such skips and, instead, building debris (which must be stored on site) is removed by lorry as it accumulates. Failure to do so slows down work on the site and is generally not in the interest of developers.

Before conclusion, I am sure Mr. FUNG would agree with me that we seem to be handing out too few prosecutions and too many warnings. In this respect, I would ask the City Services Department to give the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee detailed information to see whether in future, we can dispense with warnings but go ahead with prosecutions.

MR. FUNG (in English):—Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank Dr. HUANG for having anticipated one of my supplementary questions on warnings. Just for background information, I did not ask this question out of the thin air, but rather because having driven around Hong Kong and Kowloon many times, I noticed the serious deterioration in the condition which I have described in my question. May I ask what is the outcome of the 17 prosecutions? Are they successful or unsuccessful?

DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I will inform Mr. FUNG of the result of these 17 prosecutions in a written reply. However, I want to point out that we ought to step up action against contractors who discard building debris indiscriminately. At present, I think we have given out too many warnings but too few prosecutions.

MR. FUNG (in English): Mr. Chairman, Dr. HUANG answered that the City Services Department staff and the Highways Office have regular meetings to co-ordinate action on problems arising from 'road openings', but does Dr. HUANG realize that in fact under the Urban Council Ordinance, Urban Council is responsible for ensuring that the road drains are not blocked by debris from construction site or ‘road opening’.

DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-I believe that is why there are consultations with Highways Office to avoid blocking of the drains. I believe that together with the staff from the City Services Department, we will request the Highways Office to take out prosecutions. Of course, there are some 'road opening' projects which are under the Highways Office and which are outside the jurisdiction of the Urban Council, so we hope that we can have closer co-operation with them.

MR. CHAINE (in Cantonese):--Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask Dr. HUANG whether the Highways Office contractors have been warned or taken to court? If yes, what are the results?

DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):-The Highways Office is not under the Urban Council, so I don't know whether the contractors have been taken to court and what results are.

MISS YEUNG (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, I noticed that in foreign countries, whenever road works are carried out, there is always a notice board stating who is responsible, who is the contractor and whom you should contact if there are any complaints. Though the Highways Office is not under the Urban Council's jurisdiction, could we be informed if this is possible, so that we could at least have information available for members of the public to make direct contact with the contractors. In that case, the City Services Department will not have to deal with extra work.

DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I will request the City Services Department to express to the Highways Office the Urban Councillors' concern.

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