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MR. PAO PING-WING, CHAIRMAN OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SELECT COMMITTEE replied as follows (in Cantonese):- MS. TANG's question is in 2 parts. The first part asks what measures the Department will take to deal with overflowing litter containers.
Currently, there are around 11,000 litter containers provided on-street and at locations such as bus and tram stops, major road junctions, ferry concourses, cinemas, MTR entrances and exits, as well as various other convenient points in public places. In most streets, containers are placed at approximately 60-metre intervals and thus one usually need not walk more than 30 metres to find such a container. In busy locations with heavy pedestrian flow, additional containers are provided as necessary.
Although containers are usually emptied between 3 and 4 times a day by the Department's beat sweepers, cleansing staff are flexibly deployed to empty containers more frequently in heavily utilised areas in order to try to avoid containers overflowing.
To further increase capacity, plans are in hand to replace the existing 85-litre containers with larger litter containers of 100-litre and 150-litre capacity. A phased replacement programme to introduce these new containers onto the street is scheduled to commence towards the end of this year.
In spite of the Department's efforts, overflowing of litter containers will almost inevitably occur from time to time. If anyone discovers a container overflowing with litter, he or she is encouraged to inform the relevant District Hygiene Superintendent or to report the matter through the Department's Hot Line, Telephone number 868 0000, for prompt attention. I would like to take this opportunity to remind our citizens that according to law, we cannot deposit litter outside litter containers and we must deposit the rubbish within litter containers. It is an offence to deposit litter outside litter containers. The maximum penalty for this offence is a fine of $10,000 and 6 months' imprisonment. Over the past 6 months, the Department has taken out 347 summonses against offenders for depositing rubbish outside litter containers. If litter containers are full, citizens are asked not to deposit the rubbish outside or above litter containers.
As regards the second part of the question concerning the fouling of streets and pavements by dog faeces, the Department currently provides 274 dog latrines throughout the urban area and is continuously seeking to identify appropriate locations to provide additional such latrines.
Summonses are regularly taken out by the district cleansing staff during their day-to-day patrol duties for fouling of streets by dog faeces. During the past 6 months, the Department has taken prosecution action in 59 cases under the Public Cleansing and Prevention of Nuisances (Urban Council) Bylaws. Dog owners are liable to a fine of $2,500 on the first conviction, and $5,000 on the second or subsequent conviction.
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In order to constantly remind dog owners of their responsibilities in this area, the Department regularly distributes pamphlets and publicity materials to the public not only through the Department's own District Offices, but also through other channels such as Area Committees and Mutual Aid Committees.
MS. ANNA TANG KING-YUNG (in Cantonese):- Mr. Chairman, I have a supplementary to ask. Although I agree with Mr. PAO that USD is continuously seeking to identify appropriate locations to provide dog latrines and is doing a lot of publicity efforts, yet a lot of dog owners do not care to take their dogs to the dog latrines. I hope that the USD should really step up prosecution actions against such people. Mr. PAO just told us that 59 prosecutions were taken up in the past 6 months, I think the figure is on the low side and is quite minimal. I would like to ask Mr. PAO what was the total fine imposed on those offenders for these 59 cases? The second question concerns problem caused by street dogs, which is not within the ambit of the USD but these street dogs pollute and cause a lot of environmental hygiene problem which is the responsibility of UC. I wonder whether the USD will take up a co-ordinating role and cooperate with other departments to solve the nuisance problem caused by street dogs?
MR. PAO PING-WING (in Cantonese):- Mr. Chairman, MS. TANG has asked three questions and I will answer them one by one. Firstly, I agree entirely with MS. TANG that we should step up prosecution actions against people for letting dogs foul on our streets. Of course, it is sometimes difficult for the prosecution to be taken out. For example, some eye-witnesses must be available to give evidences that the dog owners are not doing all they can to prevent such fouling of streets by dogs from happening. In principle, I entirely agree with Ms. TANG that the USD should step up prosecution actions. As regards dog latrines, according to past experience, throughout the territory, dog latrines are not welcomed by the public. People living close to dog latrines and not owning dogs object to the existence of dog latrines. So it is difficult for us to find new locations for dog latrines, and the USD has been seeking cooperation with various DBs to identify over 200 dog latrines. I hope that in future we would be able to find more suitable places. The second question concerns the total amount of fines for 59 cases. I am sorry I don't know the total amount, but according to my memory, the average fine was around $400 for each case. The third question concerns street dogs. Ms. TANG is well aware of the fact that this is not within the jurisdiction of the USD who alone cannot solve the problem. But as I understand, through the District Management Committee and with the cooperation of other departments, the USD has done a lot to solve the problem of street dogs. I hope that members of the public and all parties concerned will let the DBs and the relevant departments know of this problem. If they inform USD, our staff will certainly relay the cases to relevant departments for appropriate action. As for coordination, in the past, the USD had already taken positive steps in cooperating with other departments to solve this problem. Of course, I hope other departments can cooperate better with us to tackle the problem of street dogs which is the responsibility of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department.
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