ENG-1994 — Page 288

LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

Construction work continued in the Southern District of Hong Kong Island. In Stanley, the sewage treatment plant, constructed underground in a cavern, is due for commissioning in early 1995. Other sewerage rehabilitation and improvement works in the Stanley and Tai Tam areas were completed in late 1994. The sewage treatment plant will treat and disinfect the sewage from these areas before their discharge to the sea. The works in Repulse Bay and Shek O are expected to be completed towards the end of 1995 and in mid-1996, respectively. Besides improving sewerage facilities, the project will protect the popular bathing beaches in the district.

In East Kowloon, a system of new trunk sewers and pumping stations is expected to be completed in early 1995. After the commissioning of the Yau Tong Pumping Station in July, raw sewage from the Yau Tong area is no longer discharged into the harbour.

The advance works for the Principal Collection and Treatment System of the Strategic Sewage Disposal Scheme commenced in April. Detailed design for the main works continued.

The Director of Drainage Services is also the General Manager of the new Sewage Services Trading Fund, established on March 11, 1994, with a $6.8 billion injection of capital. The immediate objective of the trading fund is to bring about early improvements to the water quality around Victoria Harbour through the implementation of some of the above-mentioned capital projects in a high priority programme. Preparation was underway for the introduction of a scheme of charging for the sewage services provided by the Drainage Services Department.

Stormwater Drainage and Flood Control

The North and Northwest districts of the New Territories are particularly vulnerable to flooding.

In 1994, Hong Kong experienced its wettest July since 1884, with a total of 1038 millimetres of rain recorded during the month. An intense rainstorm period from July 22-25, due to a widespread low pressure trough in the region, resulted in severe flooding in the territory, particularly in the Yuen Long area. More than 380 reports of flooding were received.

Some of the main causes of flooding in the New Territories have been the urbanisation of the rural areas and uncontrolled developments on the floodplains of the main rivers. To assist planners in guiding developments so that the flooding situation will not deteriorate further, the department has developed basin management plans for the five flood-prone basins in the North and Northwest New Territories. These plans define the constraints and opportunities for development within the five basins from a drainage perspective. They have been used to assist in the preparation of outline zoning plans and development permission area plans.

The government continued to implement schemes with a view to alleviating the problem of flooding in the Northwest New Territories. Construction work on Stage I of the $1.1 billion project for the improvement of the Kam Tin River and the Shan Pui River in Yuen Long progressed satisfactorily. Construction work on a second drainage channel to the south of Lut Chau started in April and this will be followed by upstream works in mid-1995. Design work was in progress to construct a further 24 kilometres of drainage channels in Kam Tin, Ngau Tam Mei and San Tin.

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