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special cleansing squads operating in Kowloon from two to four after 1st April. This will double the speed at which the squads get round their areas.
MR. CHAN SHU-WOON asked the following question:
In view of the fact that more than ten thousand persons frequented Lai Chi Kok Beach daily during the previous swimming season and that the sea water in that area has been in a filthy state, will the Chairman please advise: (a) What measures will be taken to remedy the situation? (b) Will the diversion of the drainage outlet at Kau Wah Keng, by the erection of a nullah extending out as far as Torpedo Bridge, or the installation of a "Sewage Treatment Tank" with percolating filter, help to improve the situation?
(c) Does the refuse station at Gin Drinker's Bay contribute the primary cause for the nuisances? And, if so, will it be possible to erect an enclosure at the water front of the station in order to stop the refuse from drifting to the neighbouring beaches?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
I will preface my answer by repeating the reply given at the last Council Meeting in response to a similar question, namely that Government cannot guarantee that Lai Chi Kok Beach will be safe for swimming during the coming summer. Only a small part of the pollution comes from the Kau Wa Keng Nullah, and I have already given instructions that every effort is to be made to stop refuse being thrown into it. I have also asked my friend, the Director of Public Works, to examine the feasibility of either diverting the discharge from the nullah, extending the nullah seawards, or installing some kind of treatment plant. Until these possibilities have been examined I am unable to say whether any of them would help to improve the situation.
However, the greater part of the pollution comes from elsewhere in the harbour, and although Government is taking continuous action to reduce this, the water off the beach is likely to continue to be seriously polluted. As mentioned in the reply given at the last Council meeting
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further laboratory tests of the water will be made shortly, and the results will be referred to the Urban Amenities Select Committee for a decision on the policy to be adopted towards swimming at Lai Chi Kok during the coming summer.
The refuse dump at Gin Drinker's Bay is probably one of several factors which contribute to the refuse appearing at Lai Chi Kok beach but there is no known method of measuring whether or not it is the prime cause.
So long as refuse from Hong Kong Island has to be taken to Gin Drinker's Bay by barge, it is essential to provide sea access to the face of the refuse dump there. This precludes the construction of a continuous bund or seawall enclosing the dump, until alternative means of disposing of refuse from the Island have been found. As Members are aware, this alternative means will exist when the refuse incinerator for the Island has been constructed.
Although it is not yet possible to build a bund which will enclose the dump at Gin Drinker's Bay, action has been taken to reduce the quantity of floating and semi-buoyant refuse escaping from the dump. In December 1961 a floating boom was laid some distance out from the working face. This was destroyed by Typhoon "Wanda" and a new log boom was laid in November 1962. In August 1962 work started on a permanent earth and rubble bund, which will eventually enclose the whole of the refuse dump, but, as I have already explained, a gap will have to be left in this for the time being to provide access for barges.
MR. WATSON-Mr. Chairman, may I ask one supplementary question? Can you tell us when this permanent earth and rubble bund may be expected to be completed?
years.
CHAIRMAN:-The contract was signed for construction within three years.
MR. CHAN SHU-WOON asked the following question:-
In view of the recent resettlement clearance around the Walled City of Kowloon, will the Chairman state: (a) How many complaints filed by factory proprietors, shopkeepers and landlords against unfair compensation and allocation of factory sites, shop sites and
Page 141 of 150
266
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
special cleansing squads operating in Kowloon from two to four after 1st April. This will double the speed at which the squads get round their areas.
MR. CHAN SHU-WOON asked the following question :·
In view of the fact that more than ten thousand persons fre- quented Lai Chi Kok Beach daily during the previous swimming season and that the sea water in that area has been in a filthy state, will the Chairman please advise: (a) What measures will be taken to remedy the situation? (b) Will the diversion of the drainage outlet at Kau Wah Keng, by the erection of a nullah extending out as far as Torpedo Bridge, or the installation of a "Sewage Treatment Tank" with percolating filter, help to improve the situation?
(c) Does the refuse station at Gin Drinker's Bay contri- bute the primary cause for the nuisances? And, if so, will it be possible to erect an enclosure at the water front of the station in order to stop the refuse from drifting to the neighbouring beaches?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
I will preface my answer by repeating the reply given at the last Council Meeting in response to a similar question, namely that Government cannot guarantee that Lai Chi Kok Beach will be safe for swimming during the coming summer. Only a small part of the pollution comes from the Kau Wa Keng Nullah, and I have already given in- structions that every effort is to be made to stop refuse being thrown into it. I have also asked my friend, the Director of Public Works, to examine the feasibility of either diverting the discharge from the nullah, extending the nullah seawards, or installing some kind of treatment plant. Until these possibilities have been examined I am unable to say whether any of them would help to improve the situation.
However, the greater part of the pollution comes from else- where in the harbour, and although Government is taking continuous action to reduce this, the water off the beach is likely to continue to be seriously polluted. As men- tioned in the reply given at the last Council meeting
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
267
further laboratory tests of the water will be made shortly, and the results will be referred to the Urban Amenities Select Committee for a decision on the policy to be adopted towards swimming at Lai Chi Kok during the coming summer.
The refuse dump at Gin Drinker's Bay is probably one of several factors which contribute to the refuse appearing at Lai Chi Kok beach but there is no known method of measuring whether or not it is the prime cause.
So long
as refuse from Hong Kong Island has to be taken to Gin Drinker's Bay by barge, it is essential to provide sea access to the face of the refuse dump there. This precludes the construction of a continuous bund or seawall enclosing the dump, until alternative means of disposing of refuse from the Island have been found. As Members are aware, this alternative means will exist when the refuse incinerator for the Island has been constructed.
Although it is not yet possible to build a bund which will enclose the dump at Gin Drinker's Bay, action has been taken to reduce the quantity of floating and semi-buoyant refuse escaping from the dump. In December 1961 a floating boom was laid some distance out from the work- ing face. This was destroyed by Typhoon "Wanda" and a new log boom was laid in November 1962. In August 1962 work started on a permanent earth and rubble bund, which will eventually enclose the whole of the refuse dump, but, as I have already explained, a gap will have to be left in this for the time being to provide access for barges.
MR. WATSON-Mr. Chairman, may I ask one supplementary ques- tion? Can you tell us when this permanent earth and rubble bund may be expected to be completed?
years.
CHAIRMAN: -The contract was signed for construction within three
MR. CHAN SHU-WOON asked the following question:-
In view of the recent resettlement clearance around the Walled
City of Kowloon, will the Chairman state: (a) How many complaints filed by factory proprietors, shopkeepers and landlords against unfair compensa- tion and allocation of factory sites, shop sites and
Page 141 of 150
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