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Author Archives: hksar gov

LCQ13: Environmental hygiene problems caused by wild birds

     Following is a question by the Hon Mrs Regina Ip and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, in the Legislative Council today (April 3):
 
Question:
 
     I have received complaints from many members of the public that there are from time to time people feeding wild pigeons in public places, resulting in wild pigeons congregating and depositing large quantities of droppings, which has seriously affected environmental hygiene and posed health hazards to members of the public. The spots where wild pigeons congregate include an area underneath the flyover outside Mount Sterling Mall at Mei Foo Sun Chuen and the open space nearby (especially at dusk), and a footpath on Sha Kok Street adjacent to Sha Kok Estate (with more than 200 wild pigeons congregating at the most). Although the Sha Tin District Council has all along been requesting, in the past decade or so, the relevant government departments to take measures to tackle the problem of wild pigeons congregating, the situation has not been improved. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the number of complaints received by the authorities in each of the past three years about bird droppings causing environmental hygiene problems, with a breakdown by District Council district;
 
(2) whether the authorities will step up law enforcement efforts and inspections to curb the acts of feeding wild birds; if so, of the details; and
 
(3) apart from installing Internet Protocol cameras at the spots concerned to curb the acts of feeding wild birds, of the measures adopted by the authorities in the past three years to prevent wild birds congregating and the effectiveness of such measures; whether they will consider installing netting at those spots to prevent entry by wild birds; if so, of the details?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     People who dirty public places by feeding birds, e.g. leaving residual feed on the ground, will contravene section 4(1) of the Public Cleansing and Prevention of Nuisances Regulation (Cap. 132BK). The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) may take enforcement actions against the offenders under the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness and Obstruction) Ordinance (Cap. 570).
 
     My reply to the Member’s questions is as follows:
 
(1) The FEHD received 372, 478 and 474 complaints in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 (as at February 2019) respectively against people who dirtied public places by feeding birds. The breakdown by District Council district is as follows:
 

District 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
(as at February 2019)
Central and
Western		 41 45 66
Wan Chai 37 61 49
Eastern 51 53 48
Southern 28 19 11
Islands 2 5 10
Yau Tsim
Mong		 30 53 54
Sham Shui Po 51 47 50
Kowloon City 12 28 47
Wong Tai Sin 9 11 7
Kwun Tong 22 20 15
Kwai Tsing 6 14 8
Tsuen Wan 2 5 4
Tuen Mun 5 6 7
Yuen Long 21 42 33
North 0 5 2
Tai Po 12 11 19
Sha Tin 20 23 9
Sai Kung 23 30 35
Total 372 478 474
 
(2) and (3) The FEHD has set up 19 dedicated enforcement teams (DETs), primarily responsible for stepping up enforcement actions against various public cleanliness offences (including dirtying public places by feeding birds), and additional DETs will be set up in 2019. On top of regular enforcement actions, the FEHD arranges blitz prosecution by DETs to curb the illegal acts of dirtying public places by feeding birds.
 
     Apart from providing routine street sweeping and washing services, the FEHD would increase the frequency of street washing and disinfect public places where wild birds congregate with diluted bleach solution as appropriate, so as to maintain environmental hygiene.
 
     The proposal of installing fencing is subject to the decision of the venue management concerned. If feeding activities persist, the installation of fixed fencing may not necessarily be an effective solution for mobile feeding behaviors as birds will still congregate in the vicinity of the fenced-off areas. The way to tackle the problem at its root is to promote the public awareness of refraining from feeding birds through enhanced public education.
 
     The FEHD has been making appeals through various channels, including erecting warning signs and distributing pamphlets to the public to advise them to refrain from feeding and thus gathering wild birds in order to maintain environmental hygiene.
 
     In addition, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) will continue to remind the public not to feed birds through various channels, including broadcasting new Announcements in the Public Interest on television and radio and microfilms on media platforms. A dedicated website (nofeeding.afcd.gov.hk) has been launched to enhance publicity. Furthermore, the AFCD has produced new banners, posters and pamphlets for displaying at locations where birds gather as well as for posting and distribution by government departments and private housing estates, and will continue to conduct roving exhibitions at different districts. read more

East Asia

LCQ12: Use of public healthcare services by persons who were issued Hong Kong identity cards in certain years

     Following is a question by Dr the Hon Pierre Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, in the Legislative Council today (April 3):
 
Question:
 
     It has been reported that Hong Kong identity cards issued respectively from December 28, 2000 to July 31, 2011 and since August 1, 2011 have numbers beginning with “R” and “M”, and a majority of those persons holding such identity cards (R and M persons) are new arrivals to Hong Kong. Regarding the use of public healthcare services by R and M persons, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it knows the respective total numbers of new cases of R and M persons being diagnosed, in public hospitals during the period between 2013 and 2018, with the cancers set out in the table below; set out a breakdown in the table below by gender of such persons and the age group to which they belonged;
 

Type of cancers Gender Age group (years old) Total
0-19 20-44 45-64 65-74 75 or above
Colorectal
cancer		 Female            
Male            
Lung tumour Female            
Male            
Liver tumour Female            
Male            
Leukaemia Female            
Male            
Hodgkin’s lymphoma Female            
Male            
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma Female            
Male            
Total: Female            
Male            
 
(2) whether it knows the respective total numbers of new and old cases of R and M persons receiving diagnoses and treatments in public hospitals in each year between 2013 and 2018, with a tabulated breakdown by gender of such persons, the age group to which they belonged (as set out in the table above) and the following diagnoses and treatments as well as services they received: renal replacement therapy (including peritoneal dialysis and haemodialysis), cataract surgery, treatment for Hepatitis B and specialist outpatient services of psychiatry, chest, paediatrics and cardiology;
 
(3) given that countries such as Singapore, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States require a person who applies for residence to pass a health check (including a confirmation that the person has not suffered from any infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, serious diseases or chronic diseases), whether the Government will, by making reference to this practice, impose a similar requirement on those persons coming to Hong Kong for settlement, with a view to relieving the burden on the public healthcare system; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(4) whether the Government will approach the Central Authorities to gain an understanding of the anticipated number of Mainland residents who will come to Hong Kong for settlement on Permits for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao (commonly known as “One-way Permits”) in the coming 10 years as well as their age and gender distribution, so as to facilitate the making of accurate projections on the demand for and the capacities of healthcare and other public services in Hong Kong in future, and the corresponding planning work; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     Having consulted the Security Bureau, the Department of Health (DH) and the Hospital Authority (HA), reply to the various parts of the question raised by Dr the Hon Pierre Chan is as follows:
 
(1) and (2) Under the existing policy, HA collects from its patients their personal data for healthcare / general related purposes only. In this respect, the requested statistics on patients with subgroup breakdowns by prefix of their Identity Card numbers are not available.
 
(3) Local health authorities will enforce appropriate prevention and control measures in response to the latest epidemic situation in the region. Currently, an effective system for prevention and control of infectious diseases is in place in Hong Kong. In order to provide protection to the local community against infectious diseases, the DH coordinates and implements a series of public health programmes covering disease surveillance, outbreak management, health promotion, risk communication, emergency preparedness and contingency planning, infection control, vaccinations, as well as training and research. According to the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance (Cap 599), medical practitioners are required to report suspected and confirmed cases of notifiable infectious diseases to the DH for investigation and follow-up actions as appropriate. The established system for prevention and control of infectious diseases has been effective. The DH will continue to review, from time to time, the mechanism to protect public health. Other measures, such as requiring New Arrivals to undertake physical examinations, are not considered necessary at this stage.
 
(4) The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government exchanges views with the Mainland authorities from time to time on the views of various sectors of society concerning Mainland residents coming to Hong Kong for family reunion.
 
     For a long time, the Census and Statistics Department updates population projections statistics every two to three years taking into account the latest developments of the population, including the new arrivals, so as to provide a common basis for reference by the Government for formulating policies in housing, healthcare, education, social welfare, etc., as well as in planning public services and facilities. read more

East Asia