The Lands Department (LandsD) announced today (December 6) that a site, Tuen Mun Town Lot No. 518 at Castle Peak Road – Castle Peak Bay, Area 48, Tuen Mun, New Territories, in the 2019-20 Land Sale Programme will be disposed of by public tender. The tender invitation for the lot will commence on December 13, and close on January 10, 2020.
       
     Tuen Mun Town Lot No. 518 has a site area of about 13,538 square metres and is designated for private residential purposes. The minimum gross floor area and the maximum gross floor area are 32,492 sq m and 54,152 sq m respectively.
 
     Land sale documents including the Form of Tender, the Tender Notice, the Conditions of Sale and the sale plan of the lot will be available for downloading from the LandsD website (www.landsd.gov.hk), and the sale plan will be available for distribution and inspection by the public from December 13, when the particulars of the tender will also be gazetted.

     The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (December 6) released the latest grading of water quality for four gazetted beaches that are open all year round for swimming.

     Four beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1).
 
Grade 1 beaches are:
       
Clear Water Bay Second Beach    
Deep Water Bay Beach 
Golden Beach
Silverstrand Beach 

     Compared with the grading released last week, there was no change in the grading for these beaches.

     Under the present grading system, beaches are classified into four grades, namely Good (Grade 1), Fair (Grade 2), Poor (Grade 3) and Very Poor (Grade 4), according to the level of E. coli in the water. Grades are calculated on the basis of the geometric mean of the E. coli counts on the five most recent sampling occasions.

     While the ratings represent the general water quality at the beaches, an EPD spokesman reminded members of the public that water quality could be temporarily affected during and after periods of heavy rain. Bathers should avoid swimming at beaches for up to three days after a storm or heavy rainfall.

     A summary of beach grades is published weekly before the weekend. The latest beach grades based on the most current data may be obtained from the department's website on Beach Water Quality (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/beach) or the beach hotline, 2511 6666.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (December 6) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$434.3 billion as at the end of November 2019 (end-October 2019: US$440.6 billion) (Annex).
 
     Including unsettled foreign exchange contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of November 2019 amounted to US$434.2 billion (end-October 2019: US$433.4 billion).
 
     The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$434.3 billion represent about seven times the currency in circulation or 45 per cent of Hong Kong dollar M3.
 
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     At present, four press releases relating to the Exchange Fund's data are issued by the HKMA each month. Three of these releases are issued to disseminate monetary data in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). The fourth press release, on the Exchange Fund's Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account, is made in accordance with the HKMA's policy of maintaining a high level of transparency. For the month of December 2019, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
 

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced that Tsim Sha Tsui Public Library, which has been closed due to special circumstances nearby, will reopen tomorrow (December 7).

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has, from time to time, received public enquiries on whether the concerned entities are banks or authorized institutions (note), and whether those entities are authorized to take deposit and subject to the supervision of the HKMA.
 
     The HKMA would like to remind the public that, pursuant to the Banking Ordinance, no person other than an authorized institution is permitted to carry on in Hong Kong business of taking deposits, to issue advertisements relating to deposits, and to issue statements on authorized status.  Members of the public may check the status of any entity which holds itself out as a bank or an authorized institution, or solicits deposits from the public by referring to the HKMA’s website (vpr.hkma.gov.hk/eng/regulatory-resources/registers/register-of-ais-and-lros) or by calling its public enquiry hotline 2878 8222.

Note: Authorised institution means a bank, a restricted licence bank or a deposit-taking company under the Banking Ordinance.