MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1977
P.W.D. AWARDS CONTRACT FOR H.K.'S FIRST COMPOSTING PLANT
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THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT TODAY AWARDED THE FIRST CONTRACT FOR A NEW $38 MILLION SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL SYSTEM DESIGNED TO DEAL WITH THE GROWING AMOUNT OF REFUSE GENERATED BY THE RAPID GROWTH OF HONG KONG.
THE CONTRACT, WORTH $21.25 MILLION, IS FOR THE SUPPLY AND INSTALLATION OF ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT FOR HONG KONG'S FIRST PULVER IS ING AND COMPOSTING PLANT TO BE BUILT AT CHAI WAN.
WORK ON THE PROJECT WILL START IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS AND THE PLANT SHOULD BE FULLY OPERATIONAL IN THE SECOND HALF OF NEXT YEAR.
THE CONTRACT SIGNED TODAY IN THE P.W.D.'S ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL OFFICE HAS BEEN AWARDED TO THE JAPANESE FIRM NISSHO IWAI CO. LTD. IN ASSOCIATION WITH FUJI CAR MANUFACTURING CO. LTD. AND HUTCHISON-BOAG ENGINEERING LTD. - ONE OF EIGHT FIRMS FROM SIX COUNTRIES WHICH SUBMITTED BIDS FOR THE PROJECT.
MR. J.A. WALLACE, THE P.W.D.'S PRINCIPAL GOVERNMENT ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEER, SAID THE NEW PLANT REPRESENTED A MAJOR STEP IN THE P.W.D.'S EFFORTS TO DEVELOP BETTER AND MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY ACCEPTABLE MEANS OF DISPOSING OF REFUSE.
+ THE MECHANISED COMPOSTING PROCESS IS A RELATIVELY NEW SYSTEM OF REFUSE DISPOSAL WHICH IS BECOMING MORE WIDELY USED IN ADVANCED COUNTRIES AND FOR THE FIRST TIME IS BEING INTRODUCED IN HONG KONG,+ HE SAID.
+ IT WILL SUBSTANTIALLY BOOST OUR PRESENT FACILITIES AND, TOGETHER WITH THE EXISTING INCINERATOR AT KENNEDY TOWN, WILL ENABLE US TO DEAL EFFECTIVELY WITH THE ISLAND'S REFUSE UNTIL WELL INTO THE 'EIGHTIES, HE SAID.
AT PRESENT, SOME 760 TONNES OF REFUSE ARE COLLECTED EACH DAY ON HONG KONG ISLAND. OF THIS, 620 TONNES ARE BURNT AT THE KENNEDY TOWN INCINERATOR WHILE THE REST IS DUMPED AS FILL AT P.W.D. CONTROLLED TIPS.
MR. WALLACE SAID THE NEW PLANT WOULD INITIALLY BE CAPABLE OF DISPOSING OF 240 TONNES OF MIXED URBAN REFUSE PER DAY, BUT IT WAS INTENDED TO EVENTUALLY DOUBLE ITS CAPACITY TO 480 TONNES PER DAY.
HE SAID THE COMPOSTING PLANT FORMED PART OF AN OVERALL 10-YEAR SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL PLAN FOR HONG KONG AS RECOMMENDED BY THE P.W.D.'S CONSULTING ENGINEERS, MAUNSELL'S CONSULTANTS ASIA.
PLANS WERE IN HAND FOR BUILDING A SECOND PULVERISING AND COMPOSTING PLANT TO BE LOCATED AT SHA TIN.
/MR. WALLACE
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