Press Releases
Public response to hygiene blackspots elimination exercise encouraging
Two-thirds of the 90 selected blackspots under the first round of the Hygiene Blackspots Elimination Exercise have been successfully deleted from the blackspot list after significant improvements were made to their cleanliness conditions.
Five districts including Wan Chai, Kowloon City, Yau Tsim Mong, Sha Tin and Tsuen Wan scored full marks for all their blackspots, five in each district.
Announcing the final assessments of the blackspots for the first round, Principal Assistant Secretary (Special Duties) of the Health and Welfare Bureau, Mr Stephen Pang, said today (Monday) that more than 1,800 assessments of the conditions of the 90 blackspots had been received from the public since the assessment started on April 26. In addition, independent panels had been set up in each of the 18 districts to assess the conditions of the blackspots.
The results of the overall assessments which comprise both the ratings of the public and the independent panels indicate that 67 per cent of the blackspots show significant improvement, 32 per cent register some improvement while the remaining one per cent remains the same after clean-up operations have been carried out by the relevant Government departments.
"We are very pleased to see the positive response shown by the community to the Exercise," Mr Pang said.
"To sustain our effort in keeping our city clean, the respective District Management Committee and relevant departments will continue to monitor the conditions of the deleted blackspots. However, it is also important for all of us to show care and concern about our environment.
"We appeal once again to the public to act responsibly and not to litter," he added.
The 60 blackspots deleted from the list will be replaced by another batch of blackspots which have been selected and prioritised in the second round of the Exercise.
Mr Pang explained, "For the second round of the Exercise, we have received over 2,300 reports. So far, the relevant departments have dealt with more than 80 per cent of the reported blackspots.
"An updated list of these blackspots has been posted on our Healthy Living website.
"The public can continue to put forward their nominations and/or ratings by completing the assessment proforma, dialling the special hotlines (Tel. 2189 2789), via the Healthy Living website, or e-mail to the Health and Welfare Bureau at blackspt@hwb.gcn.gov.hk," Mr Pang said.
End/Monday, August 2, 1999
NNNN