Press Releases
Improvement measures at Lei Yue Mun Park Holiday Village
A government spokesman said today (April 3) that several improvement measures have been implemented at the Lei Yue Mun Park Holiday Village to accommodate the reasonable demands of residents who are serving isolation order.
After meeting with affected residents of Block E of Amoy Gardens who have earlier been housed at the Lei Yue Mun Park Holiday Village, the Government has taken the following measures to improve the situation there:
* During the effective period of the "isolation order", the Civil Aid Service (CAS) is responsible for the management of Lei Yue Mun Park Holiday Village. A commander is in place to liaise with the affected residents there. As for the reasonable demands put forward by the residents, the authority has actively and promptly responded to them. CAS has also enhanced its manpower to meet residents' request on the management of the holiday village. For catering service and the supply of daily necessities and other provisions, CAS staff will try their best to meet their demands. Residents have been informed of the arrangements.
* Staff from CAS, Department of Health (DH) and Social Welfare Department (SWD) will brief residents in the three holiday camps on the available supporting services such as daily necessities and catering etc. being provided or to be provided by CAS there.
* Environmental hygiene: Contractors of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department had stepped up the cleansing services in these campsites.
* Accommodation arrangement: Rooms have been rearranged for residents this afternoon. Residents will no longer need to share toilets with other households as each family has been allocated one toilet.
* Medical check-up: On-site medical officers have completed conducting medical check-up for residents serving the isolation order.
* Counseling: To take care of the psychological health of the residents, SWD will arrange psychologists to provide counseling services and assist them in taking care of their children's emotion in a joint briefing today.
The spokesman added that SWD and non-governmental organisations have provided more than 20 hotlines to provide counseling services for affected residents.
"We sincerely thank the residents for their accommodation in accepting the arrangement for temporary relocation these holiday camps during the effective period of the isolation order. We will do our best to resolve the teething problems faced by the residents in the camp," he said.
Meanwhile, some Sai Kung residents had expressed concerns that the virus might spread from the holiday camps into the water or sewerage of the surrounding areas, a Government spokesman assured that sewerage from the two holiday camps in the Sai Kung District would not spread disease or contaminate the environment.
He said: "Fears that the sewerage from the camps would spread atypical pneumonia are totally unfounded.
"The holiday camps are serviced by septic tanks which have a capacity large enough to hold sewerage from the camps for a period of over one month even when the camps are fully occupied.
"The camps are at present not being used to their full capacity. We had emptied the septic tanks before the residents moved in. As the residents are only staying there for a short period, we will undoubtedly monitor the usage rate closely to ensure that there is no leakage of the effluent."
The spokesman also stressed that the residents in the camps are just under observation.
"Since admission into the camps, no resident has developed the disease. Medical staff is closely monitoring their health," he added.
End/Thursday, April 3, 2003
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