The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has launched a pilot scheme on installation of Internet Protocol (IP) cameras (the Scheme) since June 2018 to keep track of illegal refuse dumping through analysis of the video footages captured by the IP cameras. As the results of the Scheme are remarkable, the FEHD, after consulting the District Councils (DCs) again in 2019, has installed IP cameras at priority locations proposed by the DCs to step up the fight against such activities.
The IP cameras capture video footage of the vehicles that illegally dumped the refuse so that the FEHD can identify and prosecute the registered owners of the vehicles, and plan for more precise and effective enforcement actions based on the time and mode of such offences for better deterrent effect. Since the implementation of the Scheme in the second half of 2018, more than 4 000 prosecutions have been instituted against suspected persons and vehicle owners of illegal dumping on the basis of the footages captured by the IP cameras. During the same period, nearly 40 000 fixed penalty notices have also been issued to littering offenders.
The FEHD has installed IP cameras at about 275 illegal refuse dumping spots. If the hygiene conditions of individual spots have been significantly improved after timely assessment, the recording service of IP cameras will be shifted to other locations in the districts according to the priority list of installation and appropriate strategies against illegal dumping. However, the IP cameras at the original locations will be retained so that they may resume recording service in a timely manner as necessary. Over the past 24 months, the FEHD changed the recording locations for nearly 130 times. The IP cameras will continue to operate at various locations in accordance with actual situations to combat illegal dumping.
The FEHD has updated the webpage on IP cameras. For details, please visit the website below:
www.fehd.gov.hk/english/pleasant_environment/cleansing/list_of_ipcam.pdf
