The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) today (December 20) commenced an enhanced year-end clean-up operation about six weeks before the Lunar New Year, aiming to arouse public awareness of maintaining personal and environmental hygiene and cleanliness in the community as well as consolidate the efforts of keeping Hong Kong clean and containing the pandemic.
An FEHD spokesman said, "The FEHD continues to launch the enhanced operation, lasting for about three weeks this year, prior to the territory-wide year-end clean-up campaign. During the period, street cleaning operations at complaint hotspots will be stepped up in all districts. The FEHD will remind residents, shop owners and operators of food premises to pay attention to hygiene conditions in public areas through displaying posters, distributing pamphlets, giving advice and issuing warnings. Stringent enforcement actions will also be taken against offenders."
Management of the FEHD visited the Cooked Food Centre of Luen Wo Hui Market in Fanling and Woosung Street Temporary Cooked Food Hawker Bazaar in Yau Ma Tei, as well as Lockhart Road Market in Wan Chai this afternoon to distribute cleaning kits and other promotional items to stall tenants, reminding them to pay attention to environmental hygiene and calling on them to use contactless payment and get vaccinated proactively, with a view to fighting the virus together.
In addition, FEHD staff also visited public markets in various districts today to disseminate messages on environmental hygiene and anti-epidemic measures to stall tenants. Participating trade representatives included the Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Kowloon New Territories Hawker Associations, Mr Chan Kam-wing, and Deputy Chairmen of the Associations Mr Lam Fook-chuen and Mr Tsang Hing-wah, and representatives of stall keepers Mr Lai Chi-tak and Ms Lau Yuk-ha, etc. The FEHD spokesman said that Winter Solstice, Christmas, and the period between New Year and Lunar New Year are the golden periods for consumer industries every year. Tenants of cooked food stalls and retail stall tenants should equip themselves, participate proactively in the clean-up activities and anti-epidemic work in order to capitalise on the opportunity brought about by the golden period.
The spokesman added, "The territory-wide year-end clean-up campaign will commence on January 8, 2022, following the enhanced operation. The FEHD will strengthen the cleaning of venues and public facilities under its management, including public markets, cooked food centres, hawker bazaars, public toilets and refuse collection points, etc. FEHD staff will step up inspections in the markets and remind stall tenants to clean up their stalls thoroughly."
In addition, to tie in with the clean-up campaign, the FEHD will conduct mosquito and rodent prevention and control operations targeting places such as old tenement buildings, streets, back lanes, common parts of buildings, village houses, building sites, vacant sites and road works sites. Temporary junk collection points will also be set up for residents to discard large items of household waste. Moreover, refuse collection services in collection points and cleaning of problematic sites of illegal refuse dumping will also be enhanced.
In collaboration with other government departments, the FEHD is rolling out the territory-wide anti-rodent campaign in two phases in 2022. The first phase will be launched on January 3, 2022, and will run until March 11, 2022. The FEHD will continue to adopt multi-pronged strategies, including improving environmental hygiene and stepping up rodent disinfestation and enforcement actions, for carrying out rodent prevention and control work.
The spokesman stressed that maintaining a clean and hygienic community hinges on the co-operation and participation of everyone. He called for the concerted efforts of every member of the public to maintain environmental hygiene and fight the virus together.
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