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THE CAPITAL REPAYMENT COST OF THE FACILITIES WILL BE $1,300 MILLION AT MONEY-OF-THE PAYMENT -DAY PRICES, WHICH IS EQUIVALENT TO $731 MILLION AT PRESENT VALUE. THE CENTRE WILL BE FULLY COMMISSIONED BY LATE 1992.

SPEAKING AT THE CONTRACT SIGNING CEREMONY, EPD'S ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, MR MIKE STOKOE, SAID THIS EVENT MARKED A MAJOR MILESTONE IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WASTE DISPOSAL PLAN WHICH WAS APPROVED THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL THIS TIME LAST YEAR.

BY

DISPOSAL SERVICE то ENABLING THE PRESENT AND ELIMINATING THE

IN ADDITION, IT WOULD PROVIDE A VALUABLE MUCH OF HONG KONG'S PRESENT AND FUTURE INDUSTRY, PRACTICE OF DUMPING WASTE CHEMICALS TO CEASE, SOURCE OF A MAJOR PORTION OF TOXIC POLLUTION OF COASTAL WATERS.

MR STOKOE SAID HONG KONG CURRENTLY GENERATED ABOUT 100,000 TONNES OF CHEMICAL WASTE ANNUALLY.

IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT ALL OF THESE WASTES WERE PROPERLY MANAGED, THE GOVERNMENT PROPOSED TO INTRODUCE REGULATIONS UNDER THE WASTE DISPOSAL ORDINANCE TO PROVIDE "CRADLE TO GRAVE" CONTROL OVER CHEMICAL WASTES AS WELL AS ENSURING THAT APPROPRIATE TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES WERE ESTABLISHED, HE SAID.

MR STOKOE SAID IN HONG KONG, MOST CHEMICAL WASTES WERE GENERATED IN SMALL-SCALE FLATTED FACTORIES.

"MANY OF THE OWNERS OR MANAGERS OF THESE FACTORIES DO NOT POSSESS THE FINANCIAL RESOURCES OR SPACE FOR THE INSTALLATION, PROPER OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF ADEQUATE IN-HOUSE CHEMICAL WASTE TREATMENT FACILITIES.

"ALSO, MOST ESTABLISHMENTS LACK THE TYPE AND LEVEL OF EXPERTISE REQUIRED ΤΟ PROPERLY OPERATE SUCH SPECIALIST TREATMENT PLANTS.

"THE CENTRAL FACILITY, IN CONTRAST, WILL BE OPERATED ΤΟ HIGH ENVIRONMENTAL AND SAFETY STANDARDS, YET THROUGH THE ECONOMY OF SCALE POSSIBLE IN A LARGE PLANT, IT WILL PROVIDE TREATMENT SERVICES MORE EFFICIENTLY AND CHEAPLY THAN MUCH SMALLER UNITS INSTALLED IN INDIVIDUAL FACTORIES."

KONG'S

MR STOKOE SAID THE IMPORTANCE OF MARINE ACTIVITIES ΤΟ HONG

ECONOMY HAD NOT BEEN OVERLOOKED.

"THE CHEMICAL WASTE TREATMENT CENTRE WILL SERVE AS HONG KONG'S DESIGNATED RECEPTION AND DISPOSAL POINT FOR OILY AND NOXIOUS LIQUID WASTES GENERATED FROM SHIPS, IN ACCORDANCE WITH HONG KONG'S OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE PREVENTION OF POLLUTION FROM SHIPS (MARPOL).

"THE CENTRE WILL BE THE FIRST INTEGRATED CHEMICAL WASTE TREATMENT FACILITY TO BE DEVELOPED IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF HONG KONG TO INVESTORS LOOKING TO ESTABLISH HIGH-TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRIES, HE SAID.

I

/"THE SIGNING