XN000022-1982-11-12 — Page 5

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1982

MR LAM SAID EFFORTS WERE BEING MADE TO ENHANCE PUBLIC AWARENESS OF THE PROBLEM THROUGH FIRE PREVENTION CAMPAIGNS ORGANISED BY VARIOUS DISTRICT OFFICES, THROUGH MEDIA PUBLICITY AND THROUGH THE ISSUE OF TEACHING KITS TO SCHOOLS.

IN ADDITION TO FIRE PREVENTION LECTURES GIVEN BY THE DEPARTMENT'S PUBLICITY UNIT, REGULAR INSPECTIONS OF COMMON MEANS OF ESCAPE IN BUILDINGS WERE ALSO BEING CARRIED OUT BY OPERATIONAL UNITS OF THE FIRE SERVICES.

+DURING THE PAST NINE MONTHS, HE SAID, A TOTAL OF SOME 2 500 FIRE HAZARD ABATEMENT NOTICĖS HAVE BEEN ISSUED, THE NUMBER OF CASES BROUGHT TO COURT WAS 1 290 AND THE FINES AMOUNTED TO $820 000.+

COMMENTING ON THE PROBLEM OF SQUATTER FIRES, WHICH MADE 27 000 PEOPLE HOMELESS IN 1981/82, THE SENIOR HOUSING MANAGER OF HOUSING DEPARTMENT'S SQUATTER AREA IMPROVEMENT DIVISION, MR CHU CHAI-KUEN SAID THAT ALTHOUGH IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO STOP THEIR OCCURRENCE ALTOGETHER, PREVENTIVE MEASURES COULD BE TAKEN TO REDUCE THE EFFECTS OF THE FIRES,

+ONE OF THESE IS TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT MEANS OF ESCAPE AND TO KEEP THEM CLEAR OF OBSTRUCTION,+ HE SAID.

*THE SQUATTER AREA IMPROVEMENT DIVISION'S FIRST TASK WAS TO REDUCE THESE DANGERS THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF FIRE ACCESS ROADS, INSTALLING FIRE HYDRANTS ALONG THESE ROADS, AND CREATING FIRE BREAKS OF AT LEAST 10 METRES WIDE WITHIN A LARGE SQUATTER CONGLOMERATION. EXISTING FOOTPATHS ARE ALSO BEING WIDENED, PAYED AND IMPROVED, MR CHU ADDED.

MR CHU QUOTED THE THIRD ALARM FIRE AT CHEUNG LUNG TIN ON NOVEMBER 3 AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE SUCCESS OF THE IMPROVEMENT SCHEME.

+THE FIRE WAS STOPPED AS IT REACHED THE FOOT OF A PYLON WHICH STANDS IN A RECENTLY CONSTRUCTED FIRE BREAK, HE SAID.

+ THE RESULT WOULD HAVE BEEN DISASTROUS HAD THE PYLON CAUGHT FIRE AS THE ELECTRICITY SUPPLY IN THE WHOLE DISTRICT WOULD HAVE BEEN CUT OFF FOR A CONSIDERABLE PERIOD OF TIME,+ MR CHU ADDED.

THE DEPUTY CHIEF FACTORY INSPECTOR OF THE LABOUR DEPARTMENT, MR YIP YUK-LUN, SPOKE OF THE HIGH COST HONG KONG INDUSTRIES HAD TO PAY IN TERMS OF LOSS OF PRODUCTION TIME, PERSONAL INJURIES OR DEATHS AND DAMAGE TO PROPERTY RESULTING FROM FIRES.

HE POINTED OUT THAT NEW REGULATIONS WERE INTRODUCED LAST JULY TO PROVIDE FIRE SAFETY IN WORKPLACES.

/THE INDUSTRIAL