ENG-2004 — Page 239

Food Safety, Environmental Hygiene, Agriculture and Fisheries 197

Public Cleansing Services

The FEHD provides effective and efficient public cleansing services, such as street cleansing services, waste collection and provision of public toilets. The department provides manual street sweeping services in all urban and rural areas. The frequency of sweeping varies from once to eight times daily, depending on the need in each.

area.

Waste is collected daily throughout the year, except on Lunar New Year's Day when only major refuse collection points are opened for collection of domestic waste and junk. The department has 224 refuse collection vehicles for collecting domestic waste and junk. In 2004, about 5 516 tonnes of domestic waste were collected every day.

To meet growing public expectations, the department has taken various measures to improve public toilet facilities, including provision of toilet attendants in toilets with high usage rates. Under a regular refurbishment programme, 18 public toilets were renovated during the year.

Under the new institutional arrangements laid down in the Team Clean Final Report, the Home Affairs Department has now taken up the central coordinating role. in spearheading inter-departmental efforts to improve district hygiene, encourage community involvement and promote civic education. Relevant bureaux and departments will take charge of the implementation of Team Clean measures under their purview. The FEHD will continue its various programmes and operations in cleansing and improving environmental hygiene to achieve a cleaner Hong Kong with higher cleanliness awareness in the community.

Working in collaboration with other departments and participating communities, the FEHD provided cleansing services at streets, public places, rear lanes and environmental hygiene 'black spots'; disseminated health education messages on the importance of environmental hygiene; and took stringent enforcement action. It cleared 150 hygiene 'black spots', collected or removed about 750 tonnes of junk and refuse. Over 3 400 temporary workers have also been engaged mainly in providing enhanced improvements in environmental hygiene.

The FEHD has been taking stringent enforcement action against public cleanliness offences such as littering and spitting. Over 20 000 fixed penalty notices were issued in the year.

Abatement of Sanitary Nuisances

Accumulation of refuse, choked or defective plumbing systems, water dripping from air-conditioners, and water seepage inside private premises are common sanitary nuisances. To tackle these problems, the FEHD issues statutory notices that require abatement of the nuisance. Prosecution will be initiated against those who fail to comply with the notice within a specified period. During the year, the department issued 1 236 statutory notices and initiated one prosecution.