ENG-1990 — Page 311

PUBLIC ORDER

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Bomb Disposal

The Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Unit has expanded. It now comprises the Senior Force Bomb Disposal Officer, two Force Bomb Disposal Officers and two Assistant Force Bomb Disposal Officers who are currently under training.

During 1990, the EOD unit attended 147 incidents ranging from home-made devices to aircraft bombs of World War II vintage. The unit seized 212 kilograms of explosives illegally brought into Hong Kong, and in addition, received 93 reports concerning various suspicious objects which were investigated either by the unit or general duties officers.

Marine Police

Increased smuggling activity led to tightened control on the use of powerful, high-speed speedboats, favoured by the smugglers. Various licensing conditions were imposed in- cluding restricting the number and power of engines that can be fitted and limiting the number of electrical goods permitted on board. The export of cigarettes by vessels under 250 tons has also been prohibited. However, these measures and intensive police operations both at sea and ashore have not been able to eradicate the problem and further legislative controls are being sought.

The demand on resources for search and rescue operations continued to grow with a -total of 755 incidents compared to 585 in 1989. These varied from local incidents involving a single launch to the deployment of the whole fleet and operating in conditions which varied between fair and hazardous.

Steady progress was achieved with the building programme with the completion of two new bases at Tai Lam Chung and Sai Wan Ho for West Division and Harbour Division respectively. Work continues on two further bases at Tui Min Hoi (Sai Kung) and Mei Sha (Sha Tin) for East and North Divisions respectively.

Traffic

The number of licensed vehicles and the resulting traffic density, in terms of vehicles per kilometre of road, increased over the previous year by 7.2 per cent and 6.8 per cent respectively, highlighting yet again the need for positive traffic control and increased effort in road safety education.

Road safety campaigns mounted throughout the year emphasised the need to improve the road sense of pedestrians, especially those over 60 years of age, and inexperienced drivers with less than two years' experience.

The Road Safety Exhibition Centre at Police Traffic Headquarters, Sau Mau Ping Road Safety Town, Sha Tin Road Safety Park and the newly-opened Pak Fuk Road Safety Town were all regularly visited by schools and other organisations.

The sponsored 'Constable Care' Road Safety Programme, aimed at children between eight and 12 years of age, continued into its third cycle in September with new, attractive and interesting activities which are aimed to enhance road safety awareness among the target age group.

During 1990, there were 15 092 traffic accidents causing personal injury, a decrease of 5.1 per cent against the previous year. Provisional figures show that there were 316 fatalities and 19 786 casualties.

Traffic accident statistics are at Appendix 39.