WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28, 1989
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"THESE WORKS ARE EXPECTED TO COST NEARLY $1 BILLION AND WORK COULD BEGIN ON THEM IN 1990 IF FUNDS CAN BE MADE AVAILABLE.
"CONTROLS ON BOTH DOMESTIC AND INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS TO PREVENT THEIR DISCHARGE THROUGH EXPEDIENT CONNECTIONS INTO THE NULLAHS WILL ALSO BE IMPOSED WHEN, IN 1991, THE VICTORIA HARBOUR WATER CONTROL ZONE IS DECLARED UNDER THE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ORDINANCE."
ON WHETHER THERE WAS ANY PLAN TO DECK ALL NULLAHS,
MR BARNES' REPLY WAS NO, AS TO DO SO WOULD BE VERY EXPENSIVE AND WOULD, MOREOVER, MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT AND EXPENSIVE TO CLEANSE AND MAINTAIN THEM FOR THE PURPOSE OF FLOOD CONTROL, WHICH WAS WHY THE NULLAHS WERE BUILT.
IN ADDITION, DECKING WAS NOT ALWAYS THE MOST APPROPRIATE SOLUTION TO THE SMELL PROBLEM.
HE POINTED OUT THAT IN YUEN LONG FOR EXAMPLE, A $70 MILLION SCHEME TO REDUCE THE SMELL AND VISUAL IMPACT OF THE YUEN LONG NULLAHS HAS RECENTLY BEEN INCLUDED INTO THE PWP.
THIS SCHEME INCLUDED DESILTING, INFLATABLE DAMS TO EXCLUDE POLLUTED TIDAL WATER FROM THE NULLAH, STREAM COURSE LINING, AND PUMPING WORKS. THESE MEASURES WERE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN DECKING WHICH WOULD COST $200 MILLION $300 MILLION.
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HOWEVER, HE SAID SOME NULLAHS IN THE URBAN AREA HAVE BEEN DECKED FOR ROAD WIDENING OR TO PROVIDE AMENITY SPACE.
"THAT PART OF THE TSUI PING ROAD NULLAH NORTH OF KWUN TONG ROAD WAS DECKED IN 1988 AS PART OF THE TSUI PING ROAD ESTATE REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT.
"A SECTION OF THE JORDAN VALLEY NULLAH WILL BE DECKED AS PART OF THE URBAN COUNCIL PROJECT, JORDAN VALLEY RECREATION GROUND PHASE II, TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED TO START IN 1991 FOR COMPLETION IN 1993, HE SAID.
MR BARNES SAID THE SMELL NUISANCE IN NULLAHS WAS MAINLY CAUSED BY ORGANIC POLLUTANTS WHICH WERE DISCHARGED INTO THEM FROM VARIOUS SOURCES DOMESTIC, AGRICULTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL.
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"IT WILL NOT BE FULLY ABATED UNTIL THESE DISCHARGES ARE PROPERLY CONTROLLED.
"THE GENERAL SILTING OF NULLAHS ALSO CONTRIBUTES TO THE SMELL PROBLEM, ALBEIT TO A LESSER EXTENT.
"
HE SAID INTERIM MEASURES IN THE SUMMER TO MINIMISE THE SMELL NUISANCE CAUSED TO THE PUBLIC WERE NOT CARRIED OUT AS SUCH, ALTHOUGH MAINTENANCE AND CLEANSING WAS A YEAR ROUND PROGRAMME.
"
'IN SUMMER, HEAVY RAIN ACTS AS A NATURAL CLEANSING AGENT FLUSHING," HE NOTED.
BY
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