XN000022-1996-01-31 — Page 54

End

(c)

- 35

(b) & The Environmental Protection Department is responsible for the enforcement of the legislation. A total of three prosecutions covering eleven separate offences for the improper handling of asbestos waste were made in the past three years, one in 1994 and two in 1995. The penalties imposed on the offences ranged from HK$3,000 to HK$10,000.

(d)

The implementation of the asbestos control provisions under Parts VIII and IX of the Air Pollution Control Ordinance require subsidiary legislation for the registration of qualified personnel for handling of asbestos materials and a code of practice on asbestos abatement works. Consultation with the trade on the detailed controls and the related administrative arrangements has taken some time. Both the Regulation and the Code of Practice are now at the final stage of drafting. We aim to implement the control scheme by mid 1996.

Code of practice in the use of police car siren

Following is a question by the Hon Li Wah-ming and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Peter Lai, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

Regarding the incident which occurred in Kwun Tong in October last year in which a siren-sounding police car struck down and killed a pedestrian who was crossing the road whilst the pedestrian signal was displaying the green light, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

(b)

(c)

of the code of practice governing police officers using the siren in police

cars;

whether siren-sounding police cars will be exempted from legal liability in the event of such cars being involved in traffic accidents;

whether there is any safety code on siren-sounding police cars passing through pedestrian crossings; if so, what the details are; if not, why not; and