1998 — Page 4

Urban Council Proceedings 市政局議事錄 All AI Reviewed

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PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL

special criteria to determine the frequency of washing. Do we act on complaints from the public? I did ask the Department about the situation in my district and the reply I got was that they would act on complaints. That is my first follow-up question.

My second follow-up question concerns paragraph 4 of the written reply. Before there was talk about acquisition of mini street washing vehicles, the Department had asked the Highways Department to provide water points at appropriate locations. I heard from the Chairman of the Select Committee just now that mini street washing vehicles could be bought within a short time. Will both efforts be well coordinated? When there is a case requiring urgent attention, will the Department study with relevant departments the feasibility of using on-street fire hydrants as temporary source of water for cleansing subways?

MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. Wu for his questions. The first question concerns the criteria for cleansing subways. When I gave my reply just now, I did mention that the frequency would be similar to street washing. In fact, it actually depends on the usage rate of subways, the busy ones are washed frequently and those of light use are cleaned less often. As the frequency ranges from twice a week to once a month, under-utilised subways are cleaned once a month.

The answer to the question of acting on complaints is no. The Department treats this as routine work. As for complaint figures, only two cases of poor hygiene in subways were received in the last 12 months, one in Western District and one in Wong Tai Sin District. The Department does not wait to act on complaints. If we did wait, we would have cleaned two places only in the last 12 months and our annual workload would have come to two times of cleaning.

The second follow-up question concerns speeding up water tap installations. We will urge the Department to liaise with the Highways Department and Water Supplies Department soon. We must bear in mind that installation of water taps require cooperation and site identification by the Water Supplies Department. If we can get hold of mini street washing vehicles, we will not need to use local water taps. Since the mini vehicles can each hold 3,000 gallons of water, cleaning work will be made easier.

As to whether we can make use of fire hydrants as the water source, we need to consult the Fire Services Department because hydrants are for fire fighting, not any other purpose. Since use of fire hydrants may affect emergency measures of the Fire Services Department, we need to have the permission of that Department first. One other thing is that fire hydrants may not be located close to subway entrances. If they are too far away, we cannot make effective use of them.

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Page 4 of 606 Page 4 of 606 Tage 4 of 606 4 PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL special criteria to determine the frequency of washing. Do we act on complaints from the public? I did ask the Department about the situation in my district and the reply I got was that they would act on complaints. That is my first follow-up question. My second follow-up question concerns paragraph 4 of the written reply. Before there was talk about acquisition of mini street washing vehicles, the Department had asked the Highways Department to provide water points at appropriate locations. I heard from the Chairman of the Select Committee just now that mini street washing vehicles could be bought within a short time. Will both efforts be well coordinated? When there is a case requiring urgent attention, will the Department study with relevant departments the feasibility of using on-street fire hydrants as temporary source of water for cleansing subways? MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. Wu for his questions. The first question concerns the criteria for cleansing subways. When I gave my reply just now, I did mention that the frequency would be similar to street washing. In fact, it actually depends on the usage rate of subways, the busy ones are washed frequently and those of light use are cleaned less often. As the frequency ranges from twice a week to once a month, under-utilised subways are cleaned once a month. The answer to the question of acting on complaints is no. The Department treats this as routine work. As for complaint figures, only two cases of poor hygiene in subways were received in the last 12 months, one in Western District and one in Wong Tai Sin District. The Department does not wait to act on complaints. If we did wait, we would have cleaned two places only in the last 12 months and our annual workload would have come to two times of cleaning. The second follow-up question concerns speeding up water tap installations. We will urge the Department to liaise with the Highways Department and Water Supplies Department soon. We must bear in mind that installation of water taps require cooperation and site identification by the Water Supplies Department. If we can get hold of mini street washing vehicles, we will not need to use local water taps. Since the mini vehicles can each hold 3,000 gallons of water, cleaning work will be made easier. As to whether we can make use of fire hydrants as the water source, we need to consult the Fire Services Department because hydrants are for fire fighting, not any other purpose. Since use of fire hydrants may affect emergency measures of the Fire Services Department, we need to have the permission of that Department first. One other thing is that fire hydrants may not be located close to subway entrances. If they are too far away, we cannot make effective use of them. Page 4 of 606

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Page 4 of 606 Page 4 of 606 Tage 4 of 606 4 PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL special criteria to determine the frequency of washing. Do we act on complaints from the public? I did ask the Department about the situation in my district and the reply I got was that they would act on complaints. That is my first follow-up question. My second follow-up question concerns paragraph 4 of the written reply. Before there was talk about acquisition of mini street washing vehicles, the Department had asked the Highways Department to provide water points at appropriate locations. I heard from the Chairman of the Select Committee just now that mini street washing vehicles could be bought within a short time. Will both efforts be well coordinated? When there is a case requiring urgent attention, will the Department study with relevant departments the feasibility of using on street fire hydrants as temporary source of water for cleansing subways? MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. Wu for his questions. The first question concerns the criteria for cleansing subways. When I gave my reply just now, 1 did mention that the frequency would be similar to street washing. In fact, it actually depends on the usage rate of subways, the busy ones are washed frequently and those of light use are cleaned less often. As the frequency ranges from twice a week to once a month, under-utilised subways are cleaned once a month. The answer to the question of acting on complaints is no. The Department treats this as routine work. As for complaint figures, only two cases of poor hygiene in subways were received in the last 12 months, one in Western District and one in Wong Tai Sin District. The Department does not wait to act on complaints. If we did wait. we would have cleaned two places only in the last 12 months and our annual workload would have come to two times of cleaning. The second follow-up question concerns speeding up water tap installations. We will urge the Department to liaise with the Highways Department and Water Supplies Department soon. We must bear in mind that installation of water taps require cooperation and site identification by the Water Supplies Department. If we can get hold of mini street washing vehicles, we will not need to use local water taps. Since the mini vehicles can each hold 3 000 gallons of water, cleaning work will be made casier. As to whether we can make use of fire hydrants as the water source, we need to consult the Fire Services Department because hydrants are for fire fighting. not any other purpose. Since use of fire hydrants may affect emergency measures of the Fire Services Department, we need to have the permission of that Department first. One other thing is that fire hydrants may not be located close to subway entrances. If they are too far away, we cannot make effective use of them. 606

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My second follow-up question concerns paragraph 4 of the written reply. Before there was talk about acquisition of mini street washing vehicles, the Department had asked the Highways Department to provide water points at appropriate locations. I heard from the Chairman of the Select Committee just now that mini street washing vehicles could be bought within a short time. Will both efforts be well coordinated? When there is a case requiring urgent attention, will the Department study with relevant departments the feasibility of using on street fire hydrants as temporary source of water for cleansing subways?

MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. Wu for his questions. The first question concerns the criteria for cleansing subways. When I gave my reply just now, 1 did mention that the frequency would be similar to street washing. In fact, it actually depends on the usage rate of subways, the busy ones are washed frequently and those of light use are cleaned less often. As the frequency ranges from twice a week to once a month, under-utilised subways are cleaned once a month.

The answer to the question of acting on complaints is no. The Department treats this as routine work. As for complaint figures, only two cases of poor hygiene in subways were received in the last 12 months, one in Western District and one in Wong Tai Sin District. The Department does not wait to act on complaints. If we did wait. we would have cleaned two places only in the last 12 months and our annual workload would have come to two times of cleaning.

The second follow-up question concerns speeding up water tap installations. We will urge the Department to liaise with the Highways Department and Water Supplies Department soon. We must bear in mind that installation of water taps require cooperation and site identification by the Water Supplies Department. If we can get hold of mini street washing vehicles, we will not need to use local water taps. Since the mini vehicles can each hold 3 000 gallons of water, cleaning work will be made casier.

As to whether we can make use of fire hydrants as the water source, we need to consult the Fire Services Department because hydrants are for fire fighting. not any other purpose. Since use of fire hydrants may affect emergency measures of the Fire Services Department, we need to have the permission of that Department first. One other thing is that fire hydrants may not be located close to subway entrances. If they are too far away, we cannot make effective use of them.

1998 — Page 4

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