ENG-2003 — Page 403

PUBLIC ORDER

locations and 5 055 fire safety talks and seminars were conducted by the division and local fire stations for various community sectors.

The Commercial Buildings and Premises Division enforces the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance with the objective of upgrading fire safety measures in respect of specified commercial buildings and prescribed commercial premises. The Director of Buildings administers a Building Safety Loan Scheme, which provides non-means tested loans to individual owners who require financial assistance in carrying out building safety (including fire safety) improvement works, either on a voluntary basis or as required by law. Owners are required to pay interest calculated in accordance with the no-gain, no-loss principle. Those facing hardship, such as the elderly or people with very low income, may apply for interest-free loans and longer repayment periods.

In order to enlist more people to assist in reporting fire hazards and disseminating fire prevention messages, the Fire Safety Ambassador Scheme has been extended to 201 organisations, including schools, public transport companies, major property management companies, government departments, homes for the elderly and hotels. A total of 11 131 people were trained as Fire Safety Ambassadors during the year.

A major fire prevention publicity programme was launched on December 7, focusing on the safe use of inflammable substances. A series of publicity activities, including broadcasting fire safety messages on television and radio, and fire station open days, was organised. A mobile publicity unit was widely used for promoting fire safety and conducting roving exhibitions at schools and public housing estates.

To improve building fire safety and heighten the public's awareness of the need to maintain fire service installations and equipment in buildings, the Fire Service Installation Task Force stepped up monitoring efforts. A total of 45 888 inspections. were made. The Task Force also monitors the performance of registered fire service installation contractors, with 445 random checks carried out. Legal action was taken against 17 contractors who had contravened the Fire Service (Installation Contractors) Regulations or the Fire Service (Installations and Equipment) Regulations.

With the construction of Hong Kong Disneyland and its associated projects well under way, the Theme Park Projects Division, which is responsible for formulating fire. safety requirements, maintains close liaison and meets regularly with all parties. concerned to give advice. The commissioning of the KCRC's West Rail in December involved the deployment of additional manpower to the Railway Development Strategy Division to carry out acceptance tests on the new railway's fire service installations.

The Licensing and Certification Command sets fire services requirements for buildings and various types of licensed premises as well as dangerous goods stores and vehicles to ensure proper protection for the public. Some 10 008 submissions of building plans were processed during the year. Fire Services personnel conducted 173 139 fire safety inspections of all types of premises and issued 12 523 fire hazard abatement notices requiring the removal of fire hazards. These helped to ensure that fire prevention measures met the required standards and enhanced public awareness of fire safety. There were 709 prosecutions in cases of contravention of the Fire Services Ordinance, the Dangerous Goods Ordinance and the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance, with fines amounting to $1,605,410. Direct

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