XN000022-1986-07-23 — Page 37

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 1986

AS WEATHER CONDITIONS DETERIORATED, POLICE ACTIVITY WAS CENTRED UPON PROTECTING LIFE AND PROPERTY AND POLICE OFFICERS' ATTENTION HAD, BY NECESSITY, TO BE DIRECTED AWAY FROM RELATIVELY MINOR INFRINGEMENTS OF THE LAW.

+THIS PUTS AN ONUS ON THE PUBLIC TO REPORT CASES OF OVERCHARGING TO THE POLICE SO THAT AN INVESTIGATION MAY BE CONDUCTED,+ HE SAID.

+ IF A COMPLAINT IS SUBSTANTIATED, PROSECUTION ACTION WILL BE TAKEN.+

MR GREWAL SAID THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE THAT THE MALPRACTICE WAS WIDESPREAD.

IN THE PAST THREE YEARS, THERE HAD BEEN ONLY 163 REPORTED CASES OF OVERCHARGING, AND THIS INCLUDED OVERCHARGING DURING TYPHOONS AND OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES, WITH THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY THE TRANSPORT COMPLAINTS UNIT DECREASING FROM 80 IN 1982-83 TO 34 IN 1984-85.

HE SAID: +OF THIS TOTAL, 71 CASES WERE PROSECUTED BY THE POLICE.+

PLANS TO CURB INDISCRIMINATE ANIMAL WASTE DISPOSAL

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PROPOSALS TO CONTROL THE INDISCRIMINATE DISPOSAL OF ANIMAL WASTES, WHICH WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT CAUSE OF POLLUTION, WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY, THE SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE, THE HON NIGEL SHIPMAN, SAID IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY (WEDNESDAY).

IN REPLY TO A QUESTION BY THE HON TAI CHIN-WAH, MR SHIPMAN SAID THIS WAS PART OF THE ACTION IN HAND TO IMPROVE THE CONDITION OF POLLUTED WATERCOURSES IN THE NEW TERRITORIES BY TACKLING THE PROBLEM AT SOURCE.

OTHER CONTROLS, INCLUDING SEVERAL PROJECTS FOR THE INTERCEPTION OF POLLUTED SURFACE WATER DRAINS AND THE DIVERSION OF THEIR CONTENTS INTO FOUL SEWERS, HAD BEEN UNDERTAKEN WHILE OTHERS WERE BEING PLANNED, HE SAID.

+HOWEVER, STEPPED-UP ENFORCEMENT OF STATUTORY DRAINAGE PROVISIONS WILL REQUIRE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES.

+A CONCERTED PROGRAMME OF ACTION, BASED ON PRIORITIES, IS NOW BEING DEVELOPED SO THAT THESE RESOURCES CAN BE FULLY JUSTIFIED AND SUBSEQUENTLY DEPLOYED IN A COST-EFFECTIVE MANNER, HE SAID.

MR SHIPMAN