ENG-1989 — Page 143

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PRIMARY PRODUCTION

The Fish Marketing Organisation operates under the Marine Fish (Marketing) Ordinance, which also provides for the establishment of a Fish Marketing Advisory Board. The ordinance provides for the control of the landing, transport, wholesale marketing, and the import and export of marine fish. The organisation operates seven wholesale fish markets. Revenue comes from a six per cent commission on the proceeds of sales. Surplus earnings are channelled back into the industry in the form of various services such as low-interest loans to fishermen, improvements to the markets, financial support for the 10 schools for fishermen's children, and scholarships for secondary and tertiary education.

In 1989, the wholesale fish markets handled 74 400 tonnes of marine fish, crustacea and molluscs which were sold for $617 million. This included 4 100 tonnes of imported marine fish sold through these markets.

The wholesale marketing of imported vegetables, fruit, poultry, eggs, freshwater fish and crustacea takes place at various wholesale markets located in different parts of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. Facilities provided in some of these markets have already become dilapidated, congested and unable to cope with the increasing throughput.

Marketing activities have spilled onto areas adjacent to these markets, causing obstruction, traffic congestion and environmental problems. To improve the situation, a long-term programme has been devised to replace the outdated markets by establishing large modern wholesale market complexes on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon to centralise the wholesale marketing of fresh foodstuffs. Work on the Hong Kong complex is progressing satisfactorily while plans for the Kowloon complex are still at an early stage. In the interim, the government has established a number of temporary wholesale markets - at Western District on Hong Kong Island for fruit and poultry, at North District in the New Territories for agricultural products and at Cheung Sha Wan in Kowloon for imported vegetables, freshwater fish and poultry. Plans are well in hand to construct a temporary combined wholesale market on the Cheung Sha Wan Reclamation to replace the three existing temporary markets in the area.

Mining

The Mines Division of the Labour Department enforces legislation and safety regulations relating to mining, quarrying and explosives. It processes mining and prospecting applications and inspects mining and prospecting areas, stone quarries, blasting sites and explosives stores. At the end of 1989, one mining lease for the extraction of feldspar and kaolin was in operation. Details of the mining leases are published twice a year in the Government Gazette.

The division also controls the possession, conveyance, storage, manufacture and use of explosives in Hong Kong, including the delivery of explosives from government depots to blasting sites, and issues shotfirers' blasting certificates. In addition, it manages government explosives depots which provide bulk storage facilities for imported as well as locally manufactured explosives.

The Tate's Cairn Tunnel project and the stone quarries were the largest users of explosives in 1989 when the overall consumption of explosives in the territory increased by 21 per cent. Total consumption was 5 063 tonnes.

Storage space was provided for the imported fireworks for the Lunar New Year fireworks display in February and the Tuen Mun District Festival in November. The division continued to provide transit storage facilities for explosives imported from the United States for use by offshore oil well drilling companies in the South China Sea.