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HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
(5) MR. STANLEY NG WING-FAI asked the following question (Cantonese):—This year, due to changes in weather and the exceptionally heavy rainfall, flooding is particularly severe, especially in West Kowloon. Although the main problem lies in drainage works, blockage of gullies by litter is also one of the causes. Therefore, I have the following questions:
(a) West Kowloon is densely populated and heavily littered. In the last few years, has the exceptionally large amount of refuse on the street led to the deterioration of the flooding situation? Does the Urban Service Department have sufficient manpower to clean up refuse on the street? Besides, the West Kowloon Storm Water Drainage Improvement Scheme announced by the Government will take about ten years to complete. Before the completion of such drainage works, can the Department specially allocate manpower to increase the frequency of sweeping refuse.
(b) Since the residents of some old tenements do not have their refuse collected by cleansing/management companies, they usually dispose of their refuse on the street. Can the Department strengthen the manpower of night cleansing squads to step up cleansing work, and urge these residents to hire cleansing workers for transporting their refuse to the refuse collection points?
(c) Some shop tenants, hawkers, and pedestrians who lack public spirit litter the street at will. In the past three years, has the situation of littering in West Kowloon worsened? Has the number of people prosecuted increased? Has the Department stepped up publicity and prosecution?
(d) There have been complaints that some cleansing workers of the Department swept litter into roadside gullies. If such a situation was revealed, how would the Department punish the staff concerned? Are there any such cases in the past three years?
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT, Chairman of the Public Health SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):—This 4-part question of Mr. Ng Wing-fai enquires about the problem of flooding. The reply is as follows:
(a) West Kowloon is densely populated and, as a result, heavily littered. In the past few years, the flooding problem of streets in the district seemed to deteriorate. However, there is no evidence that the problem was caused by the large amount of refuse on the streets. Instead, it might be due to the fact that the drainage system was unable to cope with the actual need and also because of other complicated factors. In fact, the Department has sufficient manpower to clear refuse from the streets in the district. Before the completion of drainage improvement work by the government, the Department would deploy manpower to the district and increase the frequency of refuse clearing according to the situation.
(b) As to the fact that some old tenements do not have refuse collection service provided by cleansing/management companies and thus the residents
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