ENG-1992 — Page 252

LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

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improvement of chlorine storage facilities in Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun and Tai Po Tau Treatment Works and Tai Lam Chung Pre-Chlorination House were also in progress. Design of the expansion of the distribution network to supply remote villages in the New Territories continued.

Construction for the Au Tau Treatment Works Stage II and a new intake tower in Tai Lam Chung Reservoir commenced. Construction works for the Sham Tseng Treatment Works and extension of Yau Kom Tau Treatment Works were in progress.

Au Tau Treatment Works Stage I and Pak Kong Treatment Works Stage II were put into operation. The distribution system was continuously extended and enlarged to meet urban and rural demands in the territory. Expansion of the distribution network to supply remote villages in the New Territories continued.

The number of consumer accounts continued to rise at a rate of about three per cent per annum and the consumer account base expanded to approximately 1.93 million at the beginning of 1992. Computer systems were widely employed to provide efficient and effective enquiry services; handling applications for new water supply and change of consumer; and issuing water bills, connection fees and deposit demand notes. A project to introduce handheld computers for meter reading in order to further improve efficiency of the billing process was carried out during the year with a target implementation date of early 1993. Efforts to promote the autopay service continued, and the number of consumer accounts using autopay for payment of water charges reached 201 000 or about 10 per cent of all consumers.

= A SAVE WATER publicity campaign continued in the early months of the year but was scaled down since May following heavy rainfall which greatly improved the reservoir storage situation. The public was reminded of the importance of following safety guidelines in the installation of electric thermal storage type water heaters for domestic purposes. Consumers' attention was drawn to their responsibility for maintenance of their plumbing installations and carrying out simple checks themselves in the event of supply problems prior to seeking assistance from the Water Authority.

Electricity

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Electricity supply is currently provided by two commercial companies the Hongkong Electric Company Limited (HEC), which supplies Hong Kong Island and the neighbouring islands of Ap Lei Chau and Lamma, and China Light and Power Company Limited (CLP), which supplies the whole of Kowloon and the New Territories, including Lantau and a number of outlying islands.

The two supply companies are investor-owned and do not operate on a franchise basis. The government monitors the financial arrangements of the companies through a mutually agreed scheme of control agreements. The agreements require each company to seek the approval of the government for certain aspects of their financing plans, including projected tariff levels.

The operations of the three generating companies affiliated to CLP, namely, Peninsula Electric Power Company Limited (PEPCO), Kowloon Electricity Supply Company Limited (KESCO) and Castle Peak Power Company Limited (CAPCO) were consolidated under CAPCO in April 1992. CAPCO's present generating facilities include Tsing Yi ‘A' (796mw), Tsing Yi 'B' (876mw), Castle Peak ‘A' (1 752mw), Castle Peak 'B' (2 708mw) and Penny's Bay (300mw) power stations. The total installed capacity is 6432mw.