Chapter 5 - THE WAY FORWARD

Our management and staff place great importance on environmental issues and initiatives and monitors related performance and achievement closely. To strive for continuous improvement, the management will -

• monitor the effectiveness of the green measures we have put in place, and modify and improve them as and when necessary.
• review our environmental objectives regularly and incorporate new techniques that bring about good environmental impact when delivering our services; and
• promote staff awareness and knowledge on environmental issues and support green initiatives and campaigns organised by other organizations.

Future Activities

Looking ahead, we plan to take forward the following environmental initiatives, which will bring about good environmental impact.

Clean Hong Kong Programme

In 2003, to support the Team Clean's initiatives to achieve quick and visible improvement in the living environment, we will intensify our efforts in Clean Hong Kong and take the following actions -

• implement action-oriented initiatives addressing district concerns such as clean-up actions all over the territory, (including hygiene blackspots and common areas of old private tenement buildings), thorough cleansing and limewashing of public and private rear lanes, collection of bagged refuse in old districts, and continuing the public toilet refurbishment programme;
• stringent enforcement of the fixed penalty system against minor cleanliness offences; and
• continue the seasonal thematic activities for clean-up operations (harbour and beaches in summer, country parks and countryside in autumn and year-end operations in winter/spring).

Upgrading of Cremation Facilities

We are arranging for the replacement of cremators at the Fu Shan Crematorium and actively planning for re-provisioning of cremators at the Diamond Hill Crematorium, which amongst other improvements, will also help minimize environmental nuisances.

Improvement of Refuse Collection Points

To further improve waste collection services, we plan to build more off-street RCPs equipped with features to minimise environmental nuisance to nearby residents. New RCPs, which are designed to be visually attractive as well as odourless, are equipped with water scrubber systems, vehicle exhaust extraction systems and high pressure water jet cleaners. Besides, upgrading works to 48 RCPs in the New Territories to enhance pollution control are actively in progress with 8 projects completed in 2002.

Pest Control

We will continue to adopt an integrated approach in pest control operations, putting equal emphasis on effective use of pesticides and continuous improvement of environmental hygiene. We update pest control methodologies and technologies regularly, making reference to the World Health Organisation's latest recommendations. In 2003, we will continue to organise the "Anti-mosquito Campaign" and "Anti-rodent Campaign" to promote public awareness of mosquito and rodent prevention for a better living environment.

Using Transport Efficiently

The department has installed electronic vehicle monitoring devices to its 200 special purpose vehicles to monitor the performance of the vehicle fleet in 2002. This can help maximise the utilisation of the vehicles and in turn reduce fuel consumption and pollutants as a result. More vehicles will be equipped with the device in 2003.

Retrofitting of Diesel Oxidation Catalysts (DOC) on Diesel Vehicles

With a view to minimizing the environmental impact of diesel vehicles, we will retrofit Diesel Oxidation Catalysts (DOC) on the Euro I & II emission standard diesel vehicles of our vehicle fleet in 2003.

Green Drive

To sustain the momentum and the effort that has been put into green management and to raise the awareness of staff towards good green housekeeping practices, we will launch a large-scale "Green Drive" and organize seminars on green management in the department in 2003 to further promote and implement green housekeeping measures. The Green Drive has the full support of our senior management and we will also appoint designated "Green Ambassadors" in each section to assist in the implementation.

Comments and Suggestions

This report can be viewed at our homepage at www.fehd.gov.hk. Comments and suggestions on the report are most welcome. Please write to our Green Manager at Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, 45/F, Queensway Government Offices, 66 Queensway, Hong Kong or email us at fehdhqgen@fehd.gov.hk.