ENG-2016 — Page 207

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Food Safety, Environmental Hygiene, Agriculture and Fisheries

conducted 898,169 inspections of likely mosquito breeding spots and eliminated 57,103 breeding places during the year.

Two imported cases of Zika virus infection were recorded in 2016, in addition to three and four local cases of dengue fever in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The department continued to deploy additional anti-mosquito teams to sustain mosquito control efforts and stepped up publicity to remind the public of the importance of mosquito control.

Additional resources were deployed to carry out intensive mosquito preventive and control exercises across the territory before the rainy season, and during and after the Olympics and Paralympics, to eradicate possibly infected mosquitoes of a whole generation. To prevent the spread of the Zika virus in Hong Kong, all samples collected under a dengue vector surveillance programme in port areas and in areas with an Area Ovitrap Index of at least 10 per cent will be tested for the Zika virus.

Cemeteries, Crematoria and Columbaria

The department manages six government crematoria, 10 public cemeteries and eight public columbaria, and monitors the management of 27 private cemeteries.

To cater for the growing public demand for columbaria, the government adopts a three- pronged approach: increasing the supply of public niches, promoting green burial and regulating private columbaria.

Twenty-four potential sites in the 18 districts have been identified for columbaria development. In 2016, the Sha Tin, Kwai Tsing, Islands and Tsuen Wan district councils were consulted on six sites, at Shek Mun, Kwai Yue Street, Kwai Tai Road, Lai Chi Yuen Cemetery, the eastern end of Sham Shui Kok Drive and the western end of Sham Shui Kok Drive respectively. These six sites can provide about 135,300 new niches altogether.

The government promotes environmentally friendly and sustainable ways of handling ashes, including scattering them in the 11 Gardens of Remembrance managed by the FEHD or at sea. The department provides a free ferry service for scattering ashes at sea and an internet memorial service for the public to pay tribute to the deceased online. It has also stepped up publicity to promote green burial.

Public Education

To reduce the public's intake and lower the levels of salt and sugar in food, the government set up an International Advisory Panel on Reduction of Salt and Sugar in Food and a Committee on Reduction of Salt and Sugar in Food to advise the Secretary for Food and Health on the international experience and local considerations regarding salt and sugar reduction measures. The Centre for Food Safety also launched a series of activities under the theme, 'Hong Kong's Action on Salt and Sugar Reduction, promoting healthy eating to consumers and the food trade.

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