XN000022-1993-01-12 — Page 23

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1993

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MORE PRIORITY ACCORDED TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

THE GOVERNMENT'S INCREASED PRIORITY ACCORDED TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN RECENT YEARS BODES WELL FOR THE FUTURE WELL-BEING OF THE TERRITORY IN TERMS OF HEALTH AND AN AGREEABLE PLACE ΤΟ LIVE, AS WELL AS PROVIDING A BASIS FOR ECONOMIC PROSPERITY.

THIS WAS STATED TODAY (TUESDAY) BY DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, DR STUART REED, AT A MEET-THE-MEDIA SESSION TO REVIEW PROGRESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMMES LAST YEAR.

DR REED SAID MUCH STILL REMAINED TO BE DONE, ADDING THAT SUCCESSES ACHIEVED SINCE THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION DEPARTMENT (EPD) WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1986 PROVED THAT "IT IS POSSIBLE ΤΟ ARREST ENVIRONMENTAL DETERIORATION, AND TO TURN THE TIDE".

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"THE ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION IN HONG KONG AT THE BEGINNING OF 1993 IS A FAR CRY FROM WHAT IT WAS ONLY TWO OR THREE YEARS AGO, HE SAID.

INVESTIGATING AND

"THE RESULTS OF SEVEN YEARS' PLANNING, MONITORING IS NOW BEING TURNED INTO CONCRETE ACTION WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROJECTS TO PROVIDE INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE SEWAGE AND THE WASTE DISPOSAL PROGRAMMES, AS WELL AS ENFORCEMENT OF THE LEGISLATION TO CONTROL AIR AND WATER POLLUTION, NOISE AND CHEMICAL WASTE," DR REED SAID.

APART FROM THE PROGRESS MADE IN IMPLEMENTING THE CONCLUSIONS OF THE VARIOUS SEWERAGE MASTER PLANS, THE MAJOR CHEMICAL WASTE TREATMENT CENTRE ON TSING YI ISLAND WAS MECHANICALLY COMPLETED BY THE END OF 1992 AND IS NOW BRING COMMISSIONED, HE SAID.

THE PROGRESS ON IMPLEMENTING THE SEWAGE AND SOLID WASTE PROGRAMMES IS REFLECTED IN THE EXPENDITURE ON ENVIRONMENTAL INFRASTRUCTURE, WHICH HAS RISEN FROM UNDER $500 MILLION AT THE TIME EPD BECAME RESPONSIBLE FOR THOSE PROGRAMMES, TO OVER $2,000 MILLION IN 1992, A FOURFOLD INCREASE.

"THIS SURELY IS CLEAR ENOUGH EVIDENCE OF THE SHIFT THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE IN THE ADMINISTRATION'S PRIORITIES, DR REED SAID.

ON POLLUTION CONTROL, DR REED SAID: "LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS HAVE BEEN TAKEN OFF THE PAPER AND TURNED INTO ACTION IN 1992.

"THE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ORDINANCE IS BEING SUCCESSFULLY ENFORCED IN SEVEN OUT OF 10 WATER CONTROL ZONES (WCZS), PICKING UP AND CORRECTING THOUSANDS OF POLLUTING DISCHARGES WHICH AMOUNT, IN TOTAL, TO DIVERTING THE RAW SEWAGE PRODUCED BY NEARLY A QUARTER OF A MILLION PEOPLE.

"

THE LIVESTOCK WASTE CONTROL PROGRAMME HAS BEEN EVEN MORE SUCCESSFUL. IN 1992 ALONE, DR REED SAID, THE PROGRAMME REMOVED THE EQUIVALENT OF THE RAW SEWAGE FROM NEARLY 300,000 PEOPLE FROM VARIOUS STREAMS AND WATER COURSES THROUGHOUT THE TERRITORY.

/"WE HOPE