Victoria Harbour water quality has always attracted attention, and sometimes it emits a foul smell, which greatly reduces the impression of Victoria Harbour. The Secretary for the Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, said in response to a written question from Pakatan Rakyat Legislative Council member Leung Mei-fen that the Government had taken a multi-pronged approach to reduce pollutant emissions and accelerate the improvement of the nearshore environment and odour problems in Victoria Harbour.

Broken canals are a major source of environmental pollution. (Profile picture)

Last year, all 14 erroneous sewage canals in the Central and Western District were not corrected

The Environment Bureau listed the number of cases in which the Government followed up on the wrong sewer in 2022, with a total of 212 cases, but only 64 cases of amendment had been completed. Among them, there were 14 rebuttal cases in the Central and Western District, but none of them were amended. According to the Bureau, 23 cases were corrected after warnings or advice, 15 owners were rectified after receiving repair or demolition orders, and 26 cases involved old problems in public sewers were repaired. However, 73 cases remained uncorrected after the issuance of repair or demolition orders, while the remaining 75 cases were in the investigation stage or under construction, and the Bureau will continue to follow up on the cases.

In terms of government projects, 1 sewerage projects with a total cost of about $4.23 billion have been completed in the past one year, another 4 projects are under construction with a total budget of $5.32 billion, the Cheung Sha Wan Sewerage Project has applied to the Legislative Council for funding this year, and projects in Hung Hom, Tsuen Wan and Wan Chai are being surveyed and designed.

The government is tackling the smell of Victoria Harbour's waterfront.

The main source of pollution in the rainwater system with odor black spots is being investigated

As for measures to improve the water quality along Victoria Harbour, apart from the above-mentioned works, the Taiwan authorities are also screening black spots with serious odor impact in accordance with the Policy Address published last year, tracing the main sources of pollution in the stormwater system in the district, and inspecting, repairing and cleaning sediments in public sewers and storm drain systems, with the aim of halving the pollution of drains with serious pollution problems on both sides of Victoria Harbour, especially in Tsuen Wan, Sham Shui Po and Kowloon City by 2024.

In addition, the Bureau has indicated that since March 2021, the "Odor Control Hydrogel" jointly developed by the Drainage Services Department and HKUST has been regularly used in areas with odor problems to alleviate odour in coastal channels.

Chen Yueming: Daguling infrastructure lags behind, fearing that the "northern capital" will be hindered, advocate the construction of incinerators, dissolve odors, activate Cuiping River|build a cross-river channel to connect to the seashore The sewage pump house is covered with a picture platform and a small tree house