SUNDAY, JUNE 15, 1986.
STEPS TAKEN TO ELIMINATE HARBOUR ODOUR
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ACTION IS BEING TAKEN TO ELIMINATE THE UNPLEASANT ODOUR THAT WELCOMES ARRIVALS AT HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHEN THE WIND IS BLOWING IN A CERTAIN DIRECTION.
WORK BEING CARRIED OUT BY THE CIVIL ENGINEERING SERVICES DEPARTMENT SHOULD ENSURE THAT THE SMELL THAT BELIES THE COMMON TRANSLATION OF THE TERRITORY'S NAME 'FRAGRANT HARBOUR' WILL, BEFORE TOO LONG, BE A THING OF THE PAST, SAYS A SPOKESMAN FOR THE LANDS AND WORKS BRANCH.
LIKE MANY PROBLEMS IN HONG KONG, THE SMELL HAS RESULTED FROM A MUSHROOMING GROWTH OF POPULATION, THIS TIME IN THE KOWLOON BAY AREA.
OVER THE YEARS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HAVE SETTLED THERE, EITHER IN GOVERNMENT ESTATES, TEMPORARY HOUSING AREAS OR SQUATTER VILLAGES. INDUSTRIES HAVE SPRUNG UP.
THE GROWTH, THOUGH RAPID, HAS BEEN LARGELY UNPLANNED AND THERE HAS, UNTIL NOW, BEEN NO PROPER SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR THIS LARGE POPULATION, SUBSEQUENTLY, BOTH DOMESTIC AND INDUSTR | AL SEWAGE HAS, FOR YEARS, BEEN DISCHARGED INTO KOWLOON BAY TYPHOON SHELTER THROUGH THE KAI TAK AND JORDAN NULLAHS.
THIS HAS RESULTED IN A LAYER OF ORGANIC SEDIMENT BEING
THE SEDIMENT DEPOSITED ON THE FLOOR OF THE TYPHOON SHELTER. HAS DEPLETED THE WATER OF ITS OXYGEN, CAUSING THE RELEASE OF HYDROGEN SULPHIDE GAS AND GIVING RISE TO THE UNPLEASANT ODOUR.
QUITE APART FROM ITS SMELL, THE HYDROGEN SULPHIDE ACTUALLY CAUSES DAMAGE. COPPER ELECTRICAL FITTINGS IN AIRCRAFT PARKED NEAR THE TYPHOON SHELTER FOR LONG PERIODS HAVE CORRODED.
+WHY CAN'T THEY DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE SMELL IS THE UNDERSTANDABLE QUESTION VOICED BY ARRIVALS OVER THE YEARS AT KAI TAK, AND EVEN MORE POINTEDLY BY RESIDENTS OF THE AREA.
IN FACT, SOMETHING HAS BEEN DONE SINCE AS EARLY AS 1983 BY THE DRAINAGE (DESIGN) DIVISION OF WHAT IS NOW THE CIVIL ENGINEERING SERVICES DEPARTMENT.
SO FAR, $15.5 MILLION HAS BEEN SPENT IN THE FIRST TWO STAGES OF A THREE-STAGE ATTACK ON THE POLLUTION AND ITS RESULTING ODOUR.
STAGE ONE, WHICH STARTED LATE IN 1983, WILL COST A TOTAL OF $14 MILLION AND IS EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED EARLY NEXT YEAR. THIS INCLUDES DIVERTING WASTE FROM MARK AND MARK II ESTATE BLOCKS IN THE AREA INTO THE EXISTING SEWER SYSTEM.
/TC BALL,