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HELPED BY A BASICALLY +NON-INTERVENTIONIST+ ECONOMIC POLICY, KONG KONG'S DEEP-WATER HARBOUR HAS PROVED TO BE A MOST VALUABLE NATURAL ASSET THAT HAS MADE UP IN SOME WAY FOR THE LACK OF NATURAL RESOURCES, OTHER THAN ITS HARD-WORKING AND ENTERPRISING PEOPLE.
WAREHOUSE FACILITIES FOR EXAMPLE ARE RUN BY PRIVATE ENTERPRISES, UNLIKE OTHER INTERNATIONAL PORTS WHERE THEY ARE USUALLY OPERATED BY PORT AUTHORITIES.
LIGHTERED BREAK-BULK CARGOES ARE, HOWEVER, GENERALLY WORKE. OVER WATERFRONTS CONTROLLED BY THE DIRECTOR OF MARINE.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS AT KWAI CHUNG FOLLOWING THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE MAJORITY OF A CONSULTANTS REPORT BY GOVERNMENT ILL FURTHE EXPAND THE KWAI-CHUNG CONTAINER TERMINAL, ALREADY ONE OF THE MOST MODERN AND EFFICIENT IN THE WORLD, WITH AN AVERAGE TURNROUND RATE PER CONTAINER VESSEL OF 15 HOURS.
BOOM NET TO TRAP SEA-BORNE REFUSE ****
A PILOT SCHEME USING BOOM NETS TO TRAP REFUSE AT PUBLIC BATHING BEACHES HAS BEEN LAUNCHED TO IMPROVE THE CLEANSING SERVICE AT BEACHES.
REPEATED TRIALS OF THE HOME-MADE DEVICE HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED AT KADOORIE BEACH IN TUEN MUN AND HAVE PROVED SUCCESSFUL, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE NEW TERRITORIES SERVICES DEPARTMENT SAID TODAY.
THE EXERCISE IS NOW BEING EXTENDED TO ALL 29 GAZETTED BEACHES THROUGHOUT THE NEW TERRITORIES AND OUTLYING ISLANDS TO FURTHER TEST ITS EFFECTIVENESS.
IT IS HOPED THAT BOOM NETS WILL BE PLACED IN POSITION AT ALL THE GAZETTED BEACHES IN THE NEW TERRITORIES IN JULY TO COINCIDE WITH THE BEACH CLEAN-UP PHASE OF THE CURRENT CLEAN HONG KONG CAMPAIGN.
EACH BOOM NET IS ABOUT 50 METRES IN LENGTH AND THREE METRES IN WIDTH WITH 51 PLASTIC BUOYS AND 150 PLASTIC BALLS TO HOLD THE NET IN PLACE IN THE WATER. IT ALSO INVOLVES THE USE OF SOME 2.5 KILOGRAMMES OF LEAD IN THE SUSPENDED PART OF THE NET UNDER WATER AND BOTH ENDS OF THE NET ARE FASTENED TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA.
ONLY ONE OR TWO NETS WILL BE PUT UP AT EACH BEACH DEPENDING ON THE PHYSICAL VIABILITY OF THE BEACH.
NORMALLY, THE NET MOUNTED WITH FLOATS WILL BE POSITIONED IN COMPARATIVELY SHALLOW WATER AT ONE END OF THE BEACH PROBABLY OUTSIDE THE BUOY LINES USED FOR MARKING SAFE SWIMMING AREAS FOR BATHERS WHEN LARGE QUANTITY OF DEBRIS IS SIGHTED TO BE WASHING IN.
WHEN THE TIDE EBBS, THE REFUSE WILL BE EITHER TRAPPED WITHIN THE NET OR CAUGHT BY THE NET ITSELF, THE SPOKESMAN SAID.
THE TRAPPED DEBRIS WILL THEN BE CLEARED AWAY BY STAFF OF THE NTSD. THIS WILL STOP THE FLOTSAM FROM FLOATING ROUND TO OTHER BEACHES, THE SPOKESMAN SAID.
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