ENG-1989 — Page 395

THE ENVIRONMENT

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from ventilating and air-conditioning systems were dealt with by the Regional and Urban Services Departments under the noise provisions of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance in force at that time.

The abatement of aircraft noise is another area the government is tackling. During 1989 the Exemption Orders granted under Section 13(4) of the Summary Offences Ordinance were repealed, followed by the enactment of the Civil Aviation (Aircraft Noise) (Limitations on Operation of Engine and Auxiliary Power Unit) Regulations on November 1, thereby limiting the noise annoyance created by the operation of main engines, auxiliary power units, and landing and taking-off in the evening and at night time.

Wastes: Provision of Facilities and Services

Overall Strategies

Municipal solid waste is forecast to increase by 50 per cent over the next 15 years, and by 2006, an enormous quantity of waste, some 20 000 tonnes, will require collection and disposal each day. To ensure that proper collection and disposal arrangements are made, the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands is required under the Waste Disposal Ordinance to prepare a Waste Disposal Plan. The draft plan was submitted to the Executive Council for approval late in 1989.

During 1989, a comprehensive sewage disposal strategy for the whole territory was completed. It includes important non-structural components, such as the effective - enforcement of pollution control laws, without which building major new sewage disposal facilities would be useless. The major part of the proposed strategy involves the con- struction of large tunnels linking the main urban areas to treatment plants, and further tunnels leading to an undersea outfall for the treated effluent, some 30 kilometres south of the centre of the city. Ultimately this system could accommodate the sewage from the new towns of the north-east New Territories and even further afield. The treatment to be provided initially will include chemical treatment and high rate sedimentation. Scientists and engineers in the Environmental Protection Department and the Drainage Services Department are now working on the implementation of this strategy.

Sewerage Master Plans

The government is preparing a series of comprehensive sewerage master plans for all the sewerage catchments in Hong Kong. While the sewage disposal strategy deals with how to treat and get rid of the sewage, the complementary master plans deal with how it is collected from the factories and households where it originates and is then piped to the central disposal system. The first sewerage master plans, for East Kowloon and Hong Kong Island South, were completed in June 1989 and the detailed design of new sewerage systems for those areas has started. Studies of Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing, and unsewered areas in the Tolo catchment, continued throughout the year and two new studies were started for north-west Kowloon and the Port Shelter area.

Disposal and Treatment Facilities

The main achievements in the provision of municipal sewage treatment and disposal facilities during the year have been the completion of the North Point and Wan Chai East and West screening plants, and facilities to increase the capacity of the Pillar Point screening plant. Design and construction work is in progress on several sewage disposal projects including north-west New Territories, north-west Kowloon, To Kwa Wan and Shau Kei Wan. Design work started at the end of 1989 on an underground secondary