ENG-2016 — Page 206

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Food Safety, Environmental Hygiene, Agriculture and Fisheries

Slaughterhouses

The FEHD oversees the hygiene standards of licensed slaughterhouses in Sheung Shui, Tsuen Wan and Cheung Chau. Meat supplied by the slaughterhouses has to pass inspection by health officials before delivery to markets. During the year, 37,264 animal health certificates and 7,149 entry permits for local pigs were verified at the slaughterhouses, 48,186 samples of urine and tissue were taken from animals and tested for veterinary drug residues, and 1,527,319 pigs, 17,441 head of cattle and 3,315 goats were slaughtered.

The department's Intelligence Unit continued to track down vendors selling chilled meat as fresh meat and meat from illicit sources and, by exchanging intelligence with the Customs and Excise Department and working with the Centre for Food Safety, carried out 17 raids, launched 16 prosecutions and seized 0.68 tonnes of smuggled meat.

Public Cleaning Services

The FEHD provides services for street cleansing, household waste collection and public toilets. All streets are swept one to eight times a day, depending on their conditions. For main thoroughfares, flyovers and high-speed roads, mechanised cleansing is provided. Depending on the conditions of different districts, public streets are washed daily or as and when there is a need. Additional cleansing services are provided where necessary to maintain environmental hygiene.

Household waste is collected all year round. In 2016, about 74 per cent of waste collection services was outsourced and about 5,660 tonnes of household waste were collected daily by the department and its contractors.

One new public toilet was constructed, two public toilets were reprovisioned and 11 public toilets were refurbished. Toilet attendant services are provided at heavily used public toilets.

The department takes enforcement action against littering, spitting and other unhygienic practices in public places. In 2016, it issued some 39,480 fixed penalty notices.

Abatement of Sanitary Nuisances

In 2016, the department issued 8,337 nuisance notices requiring those responsible to stop sanitary nuisances such as refuse accumulation, dripping air conditioners and water seepage in private premises. It instituted 179 prosecutions against those who failed to comply with the notices.

Pest Control

Preventing the spread of pest-borne diseases is one of the FEHD's prime tasks. It reviews constantly the methodology and strategy for controlling the spread of pests.

Campaigns are carried out across Hong Kong annually to urge people to help stop the spread of rodents and mosquitoes. The department maintains close surveillance of the Aedes albopictus, a carrier of dengue fever and potential vector of the Zika virus. Anti-mosquito teams

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