XN000022-1974-09-29 — Page 5

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1974

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+ IN THE LAST THREE YEARS OR SO WE HAVE HAD 89 PROSECUTIONS. WE COULD LIAVE HAD 1,000 IF WE HAD GONE AT IT LIKE A DULL AT A GATE. BUT WE WOULD HAVE FINISHED UP WITH A TOTAL LACK OF CO-OPERATION FROM

INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.

+SO WHEN WE PROSECUTE, IT'S USUALLY BECAUSE THE OFFENDER HAS SINNED BY COMMISSION RATHER THAN OMISSION.+

HE POINTS OUT THAT AMONG THE 89 PROSECUTIONS IS A 10 TO 15 PER CENT HARD CORE OF PERSISTENT OFFENDERS - +FOLLUTION REC ID ]VISTS+, KR. NEUBURY CALLS THEM.

ONE RESTAURATEUR, FOR EXAMPLE, HAS BEEN TAKEN TO COURT SEVEN TIMES. +I WOULD SAY THAT WE HAVE MORE PROBLEMS WITH RESTAURANTS THAN ANYTHING ELSE,+ SAYS NR. NEWBURY.

THE CLEAN AIR ORDINANCE, WHICH THE UNIT ADMINISTERS, WAS FIRST INTRODUCED IN 1959, BUT IT HAS BEEN REVISED AND AMENDED SEVERAL TIKES SINCE TO GIVE IT SHARPER +TEET+. BROADLY SPEAKING, THE ORDINANCE STRICTLY LIMITS THE VOLUME OF DARK SHOKE COMING FROM ANY ESTABLISHMENT AND CARRIES A FINS OF UP TO $2,000.

THE ORDINANCE DOES NOT COVER OTHER FORMS OF AIR POLLUTION,

SUCH AS VEHICLE EXHAUST FURES.

THE AIR POLLUTION CONTROL UNIT SEES ITS ROLE AS 'AN EDUCATIONAL ONE AS HUCH AS ANYTHING ELSE, AND IR. NEWBURY ESTIMATES THAT LORE THAN HALF ITS OPERATIONS ARE DEVOTED TO THIS END.

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ALL HIGHLY QUALIFIED IN SCIENCE,

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THE SHOKE INSPECTORS MATHEMATICS AND ENGLISH AS WELL AS BEING PUT THROUGH A DEMANDING 12-ONTH IN-SERVICE TRAINING COURSE VORK ALONE OR IN PAIRS, MAKING DAILY VISITS TO INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL UNDERTAKINGS, ADVISING, CAJOLING, EXPLAINING, AS WELL AS FOLLOWING UP COMPLAINTS FROM THE PUBLIC.

AND TWO OR THREE TIMES A MONTH, THE INSPECTORS ARE FORMED INTO +FLYING SQUADS+ TO TAKE SPECIAL SOKE READINGS, USUSALLY IN AREAS WHERE IT IS SUSPECTED THAT POLLUTERS ARE DISREGARDING THE LAU.

*THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT HONG KONG COULD HAVE FACED A VERY SERIOUS POLLUTION PROBLEM IF THE GOVERNMENT HAD NOT DECIDED TO SET UP THE UNIT,+ SAYS MR. NEUDURY.

+KMUN TONG HAD REALLY GOT GOING AND UAS SUDEPING FOLLUTION ALL OVER KOWLOON AND VICTORIA.+

HOWEVER, THE UNIT HAS BEEN SUCESSFUL IN STOPPING THIS VERY SERIOUS TREND AS THE FIGURES SHOW.

IN THE LAST THREE AND A HALF YEARS, THE AMOUNT OF POLLUTION- PRODUCING FUEL BURNT IN KONG KONG - THAT IS SULPHUR-BEARING OIL FUEL HAS INCREASED IN TONNACE B 30 PER CENT.

BUT IN THE SAME PERIOD, THE RECORDED GROUND LEVEL CONCENTRATIONS OF SULPHUR DIOXIDE HAS FALLEN BY 11 PUR CENT.

/THE UNIT'S