Following is a question by the Hon Kenneth Lau and a reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam Sing, in the Legislative Council today (June 10):

Question:

     Some Lung Kwu Tan residents have relayed that quite a number of obnoxious facilities and heavy industries (including two power plants, a landfill, a columbarium, sludge incinerators, a steel mill and a cement plant) are located in the vicinity of their residences, causing serious air and noise pollution, as well as odour and traffic congestion problems. They are worried that the Government's plan for reclamation at Lung Kwu Tan may aggravate such problems. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it has regularly monitored the air quality of Lung Kwu Tan and its vicinity, including the concentrations of various types of air pollutants (i.e. respirable suspended particulates, fine suspended particulates, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and ozone) and if such concentrations have exceeded the limits of the Air Quality Objectives, as well as the sources of the pollutants; whether it has assessed if the health of the local residents has been affected as a result; if it has assessed, of the details, and whether it will publish the assessment outcome; if it has not assessed, the reasons for that;

(2) of the current average daily quantity of municipal solid waste received by the West New Territories Landfill, as well as the quantity and percentage of such quantity delivered by land transport; the average daily vehicular traffic flow of Lung Kwu Tan Road and, out of such figure, the respective numbers of trips made by heavy vehicles and refuse collection vehicles; the details of the daily cleaning work carried out at Lung Kwu Tan Road, including the frequency, schedule, methods and effectiveness; and

(3) as the Government has indicated that when selecting reclamation sites, it will attach importance to the impacts on the community and fully consider the views of residents, whether the Government will undertake not to take forward the Lung Kwu Tan reclamation plan before it has formulated effective solutions for tackling the aforesaid problems, so as to allay the concerns of the residents?

Reply:

President,

     In response to the questions raised by the Hon Kenneth Lau, with the Development Bureau consulted, my consolidated reply is as follows:

(1) To improve the air quality of Hong Kong (including Tuen Mun District), the Government has been working hard to reduce the local emissions of pollutants and strengthen the collaboration with the Guangdong Provincial Government to tackle the regional air pollution problems. The major measures implemented in recent years include progressively phasing out pre-Euro IV diesel commercial vehicles; further tightening the emission standards for vehicles; strengthening the control of emissions of petrol and liquefied petroleum gas vehicles; further increasing the use of natural gas for power generation and progressively tightening the emissions of power plants; and regulating the vessels to use low sulphur fuel, etc. With the implementation of the above emission reduction measures, the average concentrations of the major air pollutants (including respirable suspended particulates, fine suspended particulates, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide) in the ambient air and at roadside have dropped by about 20 to 50 per cent in the past five years (i.e. between 2015 and 2019), except ozone level which is still on a rise owing to the regional pollution problem. This reflects the local emission reduction and control measures implemented in recent years have been effective.

     Under the Air Pollution Control Ordinance, the existing large-scale facilities located in Lung Kwu Tan, such as power plants, T‧PARK (sludge treatment facility), steel mills and cement plants, etc., are required to apply for the Specified Process Licences issued by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) for their operation. The licences stipulate that the best practicable means shall be in place to reduce air pollution emissions for protection of air quality. In addition, the EPD has required the setup of air quality monitoring stations under the licensing conditions of power plants to monitor the air quality of nearby areas. The EPD will also send inspectors to these facilities to conduct inspections from time to time and require the licence holders to conduct emissions monitoring for ensuring their compliance with the licence requirements.

     The CLP Power Hong Kong Limited has set up air quality monitoring stations in the vicinity of the power plant, including Lung Kwu Tan Village, in accordance with the requirements of the Specified Process Licence to monitor the potential impacts of the concentration of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emitted from the power plant on the nearby areas. The concentrations of the air pollutants recorded at the Lung Kwu Tan Village monitoring station in 2019 are set out in the Annex. The data shows that the sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide concentrations recorded in the area not only comply with the current Air Quality Objectives, the nitrogen dioxide concentrations are also better than the concentration levels recorded at the general air quality monitoring stations in urban areas.

(2) In 2019, the total amount of solid waste received by the West New Territories Landfill is around 8 400 metric tonnes per day, of which about 70 per cent are transported by sea while the remaining 30 per cent (about 2 700 metric tonnes of waste) are transported by land to the West New Territories Landfill. The total number of vehicles passing through Lung Kwu Tan Road exceeds 2 600 per day, of which about 10 per cent (about 300 vehicles) are vehicles carrying waste to the West New Territories Landfill, including about 200 heavy vehicles, 60 enclosed refuse collection vehicles and about 40 refuse collection vehicles and other vehicles.

     The EPD has been in close contacts with the villagers of Lung Kwu Tan Village to collect their views on improving the environment nearby Lung Kwu Tan Road. In view of the fact that the vehicles passing through Lung Kwu Tan Road would bring in silt and dirt, the EPD has been determined to improve the road cleaning method for Lung Kwu Tan Road. After consulting the villagers in late 2019, the EPD has introduced new model of road cleaning vehicles to clean the road surface and the roadside silt and dirt, and clear the ponding on the road surface, as well as stepped up its cleaning work at Lung Kwu Tan Road. In accordance with the villagers' requests, in addition to washing the Lung Kwu Tan Road once a day, the EPD's contractor also arranges cleaning of Lung Kwu Tan Road three times every day at noon, 4pm and 8pm respectively. In addition, the EPD will arrange contractors to carry out deep cleaning work on the sidewalks along the road sections close to Lung Kwu Tan Village from time to time where necessary. They will not only clean up the accumulated silt and dirt on the pavement but also the railings and the street signs. The EPD staff will also carry out inspections to these road sections twice a day to ensure the environment is clean and hygienic.

(3) The Development Bureau has been striving hard to increase land supply through a multi-pronged approach for land supply strategy. Lung Kwu Tan and its neighborhood are located in the westernmost of Tuen Mun. There are currently various industrial facilities in the area including two power plants. The Development Bureau plans to carry out a comprehensive planning and engineering study on Lung Kwu Tan and west coast of Tuen Mun, in order to provide land for diverse economic activities in a focused, orderly, and more land-use-efficient manner. The land uses will include provision of space for relocating the existing industrial facilities in Tuen Mun West and some brownfield operations which will be affected by the development. These land uses can create jobs which will benefit the local community.

     The Development Bureau will explore feasible urban planning options in the proposed study, carry out environmental impact assessment in accordance with the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance, and conduct community engagement programme in order to collect views of the Lung Kwu Tan villagers and other stakeholders. The Government is planning to construct a new road in the reclamation area as an alternative route to the existing Lung Kwu Tan Road, so that the heavy vehicles currently passing through the Lung Kwu Tan village can be diverted away from the village in the future. The Government will also study the upgrading of Lung Mun Road and explore the connection of Tuen Mun West transportation network to the proposed Tuen Mun South Station, in order to enhance the accessibility of the coastal developments in Tuen Mun West.

     Thank you, President.

     Following is a question by Professor the Hon Joseph Lee and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, in the Legislative Council today (June 10):
 
Question:
 
     To cope with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic, Emergency Response Level was activated in public hospitals on January 25 this year. The Hospital Authority (HA) subsequently announced that staff members engaging in high risk duties in response to the epidemic might be granted Special Emergency Response Allowance (with retrospective effect from January 25), and that those staff members performing duties in high risk areas who needed to rent hotel rooms or temporary accommodation might be granted Special Rental Allowance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it knows the eligibility criteria for receiving the aforesaid two allowances;
 
(2) whether it knows (a) the respective numbers of applications received, approved and rejected and (b) the respective amounts of expenses incurred, by HA in respect of the aforesaid two allowances in each month from January to May this year, with a tabulated breakdown by (i) hospital cluster, (ii) hospital, (iii) clinical department and (iv) grade;
 
(3) whether it knows if there is any channel for staff members whose applications for such allowances have been rejected to lodge an appeal; if there is, of the details; and
 
(4) as some HA staff members, who have retained their civil service status while working in HA, have indicated that they have not been disbursed such allowances so far, whether the Government knows the reasons for that and when they will be disbursed such allowances?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     In consultation with the Hospital Authority (HA), I provide the following reply to the various parts of the question raised by Professor the Hon Joseph Lee.
 
     The HA introduced a Special Emergency Response Allowance (SERA) arrangement on February 24, 2020 to provide staff engaging in high risk duties in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic with SERA as appreciation and recognition. The SERA is granted to eligible full-time staff as well as permanent or contract part-time staff who have performed at least two-week duty in high risk areas or surveillance wards since the activation of Emergency Response Level in public hospitals on January 25, 2020 (to be eligible, part-time staff should work on a full-day or whole-shift duty similar to that of their full-time counterparts). The SERA is payable to eligible employees for the days they have worked in high risk areas or surveillance wards, and is set at 20 per cent of the daily basic salary of the staff or at a rate of $500 per day, whichever is higher. The SERA is granted with retrospective effect from January 25.
 
     The HA also introduced a Special Rental Allowance (SRA) on February 1 for staff working in high risk areas or surveillance wards with temporary accommodation needs. Eligible permanent or contract full-time staff: (i) who have performed at least two-week duty in high risk areas or surveillance wards, or (ii) whose only residency is in the Mainland; and not provided with suitable temporary accommodation by the HA or choosing not to use the accommodation provided with justifications and detailed records, may apply for the SRA, which is set at a fixed rate of $500 per day.
 
     The expenditure and number of claims for the allowances as at May 2020 are set out in the table below:
 

* The staff concerned have performed duties in high risk areas of cluster hospitals or worked in the HA's COVID-19 support team.
 
     The HA does not maintain the number of unsuccessful applications for the SERA and the SRA. Staff may approach their division head or cluster human resources office/hospital human resources department for enquiries or other views regarding their application results.
 
     Regarding civil servants working in the HA, the Government has granted permission for those engaging in high risk duties to receive the two special allowances. The Department of Health has notified the staff concerned via the HA and put the arrangement into effect. As with the staff of the HA, the SERA and the SRA are granted with retrospective effect from January 25 and February 1, 2020 respectively.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by Airstar Bank Limited on fraudulent website, which has been reported to the HKMA. Hyperlink to the press release is available on the HKMA website for ease of reference by members of the public.
 
     Anyone who has provided his or her personal information to the website concerned or has conducted any financial transactions through the website should contact the bank concerned using the contact information provided in the press release, and report to the Police or contact the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.
 

     Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, in the Legislative Council today (June 10):
 
Question:
 
     Since June last year, some demonstrators have wantonly vandalised public facilities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the number of sets of traffic lights which were vandalised in the past 12 ‍months; whether the Government will enhance the design of traffic lights to prevent them from being vandalised (e.g. installing them at a higher position);

(2) of the number of roadside railings which were removed by lawbreakers in the past 12 months; as the authorities have indicated that they have enhanced the design of railings to make them more secure, of the details of the new design;

(3) of the number of cameras of the closed-circuit television systems installed in government facilities and public places which were vandalised in the past 12 months; the measures in place to prevent lawbreakers from vandalising such facilities and thereby destroying evidence of crime;

(4) of the area of paving blocks on footpaths which were dug up by demonstrators in the past 12 months; whether the Government will switch to other methods for paving footpaths;

(5) of the number of litter containers and recyclables collection bins managed by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department which were sabotaged or used for blocking roads in the past 12 months; the measures in place to prevent such unlawful acts while taking into account, at the same time, the need of the members of the public to dispose of litter;

(6) of the cost of the damaged public facilities as mentioned in (1) to (5), and the repair or reprovisioning cost concerned;

(7) given that a number of major trunk roads were once blocked by objects which had been thrown from a height, what measures the Government has taken to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents; and

(8) of the measures in place to step up efforts in combating the aforesaid unlawful acts and promoting law-abiding awareness among members of the public?

Reply:
 
President,
 
     Having consulted the Security Bureau, the Food and Health Bureau, the Environmental Protection Department and other relevant departments, the consolidated reply is as follows:

(1) From June 2019 to May 2020, a total of 740 sets of traffic lights were vandalised to different extent, involving cutting of the traffic light cables or blackening of the traffic lights. In some cases, the traffic lights had their components or traffic controllers damaged or even burnt. To guard against vandalism, relevant government departments have already implemented protective measures for traffic lights at some major road junctions, including installing protective frames on traffic controllers and covering pedestrian traffic lights with protective meshes.

(2) From June 2019 to May 2020, some 60 kilometres of railings were removed. Having discussed with relevant departments, the Highways Department (HyD) has temporarily put up plastic chains to alert road users at locations where the railings have been removed. The HyD has been gradually reinstating the railings with enhanced design including strengthened connections between railings for better reinforcement. The HyD has been assessing the performance of the enhanced design and will evaluate its effectiveness. 

(3) According to non-exhaustive computation, from June 2019 to May 2020, at least 177 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in government facilities and public places were vandalized. Relevant departments will conduct site inspection from time to time at locations where CCTV systems were installed to check whether the facilities are functioning properly and will use more robust materials to enhance protection as appropriate.

(4) From June 2019 to May 2020, some 22 000 square metres of paving blocks of footpaths were removed. The HyD has rectified the damages and the department has been exploring various options for enhancing the design for footpath paving.

(5) From June 2019 to May 2020, about 1 320 litter bins and 130 recyclables collection bins were sabotaged. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has gradually reprovided the litter bins and recyclables collection bins and placed hanging litter bags at appropriate locations, as well as stepped up the frequency of emptying hanging litter bags as appropriate.

(6) The expenditure for repairing or reproviding the abovementioned facilities which were damaged or removed during the period between June 2019 and May 2020 are tabulated below:
 

 
(7) With a view to safeguarding public safety, the HyD has installed temporary protective fencing on some of the public footbridges to prevent throwing of objects onto the nearby roads, especially trunk roads.

(8) When conducting assemblies, processions and expressing their views, members of public must do so in a lawful, peaceful and orderly manner, and should respect other people's right. According to section 10 of the Police Force Ordinance (Cap. 232), it is the statutory duty of the Police to maintain public safety and public order. When unlawful acts occur, the Police must take actions to maintain public order and safeguard the lives and properties of the public.

     On law enforcement actions against illegal acts, if there is any illegal act, violent act or act that is detrimental to public safety and public order, the Police will not tolerate and will definitely enforce the law resolutely. To step up enforcement actions, the Police will, having regard to operational needs, deploy suitable manpower to take all feasible and legitimate measures to prevent and detect crimes, especially targeting serious violent crimes and cases of recklessly causing serious casualties, such as arson, inflicting grievous bodily harm, hurling objects onto railway tracks, throwing miscellaneous objects onto major trunk roads and tunnel entrances from height, etc. Apart from enhancing intelligence gathering and conducting patrols at high risk locations, the Police will also make timely arrest actions with a view to curbing the culprits, thereby averting incidents of serious casualties. 

     With respect to publicity and education, the Police has been making use of the social media, issuing press release and producing videos to disseminate information to the public in a timely manner, so as to raise public awareness on crime prevention and law-abiding.  These efforts also help explain the actions taken by the Police and actively clarify false information. 

     Police Public Relations Branch (PPRB) established the "Police Facebook Live Cadre" in November 2019. The cadre conducts live broadcasts on social media and appeals to the public to avoid scenes of clashes. The live broadcasts will present the law enforcement actions by frontline officers, which would help clarifying false reports, increasing transparency and enhancing public trust in the Police. 

     Since May 2020, the Police has started publishing the sentencing of convicted criminal cases relating to public order events on various social media, so as to demonstrate the Police's determination in taking resolute enforcement actions. Members of the public are reminded to stay alert that regardless of their political stance, offenders of any illegal acts would be subject to criminal liability. 

     In addition, PPRB will continue to organise activities under "Junior Police Call" and "Senior Police Call" to promote fight crime messages and encourage members of the public to become partners of the Police in fighting crime. 

Note: As the repair works on railings are still in progress, the final expenditure has yet been concluded. The figure is an estimate.

     A Government spokesman said today (June 10) that the Chief Executive has specified September 6, 2020, as the date for holding the general election for the seventh-term Legislative Council (LegCo). The decision has taken into consideration the relevant statutory provisions concerning the determination of a general election date and the nomination period preceding an election, and the practice adopted in the past public elections.

     In light of the polling date, the nomination period for the 2020 LegCo General Election is scheduled for July 18 to July 31 this year. To ensure that all candidates (including those who are serving LegCo members) will compete on a level playing field, the Chief Executive has appointed July 18, 2020, which is the commencement date of the nomination period, as the date from which the sixth-term LegCo shall stand prorogued and its operation shall then be terminated.
 
     The dates of polling of the LegCo general election and prorogation of the LegCo will be published in the Gazette on June 12.