Police will implement special traffic arrangements to facilitate a public procession to be held on Hong Kong Island this Sunday (May 13).

Road closure
————

     The following roads will be intermittently closed from 1.30pm until the crowd is dispersed and traffic resumes normal:

– Tin Chiu Street;
– Marble Road;
– Kam Hong Street;
– Westbound King’s Road;
– Westbound Causeway Road;
– Westbound Irving Street;
– Northbound Pennington Street;
– Westbound Yee Wo Street;
– Westbound Jardine’s Bazaar;
– Westbound Hennessy Road;
– Westbound Queensway;
– Queen’s Road Central;
– Northbound Morrison Street between Queens Road Central and Bonham Strand;
– Bonham Strand between Morrison Street and Bonham Strand West;
– Bonham Strand West;
– Des Voeux Road West between Connaught Road West and Queen Street; and
– Westbound Western Fire Services Street.

Suspension of parking spaces
—————————-

     Metered parking spaces No. 3040(A), 3040(B), 3041(A) and 3041(B) at Marble Road will be suspended from 10pm on May 12 to 6pm the following day.

     Vehicles may not be permitted to leave car parks along the procession route during the road closure period.

     Actual implementation of the traffic arrangements will be made depending on traffic and crowd conditions in the area. Motorists are advised to exercise tolerance and patience and take heed of instructions of the Police on site.

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (May 11) investigating two food poisoning clusters affecting seven persons, and reminded the public to maintain personal, food and environmental hygiene to prevent food-borne diseases.

     The first cluster comprised one man and four women aged 29 to 64 who developed fever, abdominal pain and diarrhoea about 10 to 18 hours after having dinner at a restaurant in Prince Edward on April 29. Three of them have sought medical advice and one has been discharged upon hospitalisation. Separately, the stool specimen collected from one patient tested positive for Salmonella enteritidis upon laboratory testing.

     The second cluster comprised two women both aged 35 who developed fever, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting about 14 to 21 hours after having dinner at the same restaurant on April 30. Both patients of the second cluster have sought medical advice and no hospitalisation is required.
 
     All patients are in a stable condition. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has been alerted to the incident and the CHP's investigations are ongoing.

     To prevent food-borne diseases, members of the public are reminded to maintain personal, food and environmental hygiene at all times. When dining out:
 

• Patronise only reliable and licensed restaurants;
• Avoid eating raw seafood;
• Be a discerning consumer in choosing cold dishes, including sashimi, sushi and raw oysters, at a buffet;
• Ensure food is thoroughly cooked before eating during a hot pot or barbecue meal;
• Handle raw and cooked foods carefully and separate them completely during the cooking process;
• Use two sets of chopsticks and eating utensils to handle raw and cooked food;
• Do not patronise illegal food hawkers;
• Drink boiled water;
• Do not try to use salt, vinegar, wine and wasabi to kill bacteria as they are not effective; and
• Always wash hands before eating and after going to the toilet.

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will hold a public hearing on "Management of restored landfills" (Chapter 1) of the Director of Audit's Report No.70 at 9am next Monday (May 14) in Conference Room 2 of the LegCo Complex.

     Fourteen witnesses have been invited to appear before the above hearing to respond to points raised in the Report and answer questions asked by PAC members.

     The programme for the public hearing is as follows:

May 14 (Monday)
Venue: Conference Room 2
9am 

Subject: Management of restored landfills (Chapter 1 of the Director of Audit's Report No.70)

Witnesses:

Secretary for the Environment
Mr Wong Kam-sing

Under Secretary for Home Affairs
Mr Jack Chan

Principal Assistant Secretary (Recreation and Sport)2, Home Affairs Bureau
Ms Linda Law

Director of Environmental Protection
Mr Donald Tong

Deputy Director of Environmental Protection (2)
Mrs Vicki Kwok

Assistant Director (Environmental Infrastructure), Environmental Protection Department
Ms Betty Cheung

Principal Environmental Protection Officer (Landfills and Development), Environmental Protection Department
Mr Fong Kin-wa

Director of Leisure and Cultural Services
Ms Michelle Li

Chief Executive Officer (Planning) 2, Leisure and Cultural Services Department
Ms Linda Cheung

Director of Architectural Services
Mrs Sylvia Lam

Project Director/3, Architectural Services Department
Mr Edward Tse

Chief Project Manager 302, Architectural Services Department
Mr Chris Liu

Director of Home Affairs
Miss Janice Tse

Assistant Director (2), Home Affairs Department
Ms Eugenia Chung

     PAC is chaired by Mr Abraham Shek, and its Deputy Chairman is Mr Kenneth Leung. Other members include Mr Paul Tse, Mr Steven Ho, Mr Lam Cheuk-ting, Mr Shiu Ka-fai and Ms Tanya Chan.

     The Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office (PICO) announced today (May 11) the funding results of the first round exercise in 2018-19 of the Public Policy Research (PPR) Funding Scheme.
 
     The PPR Funding Scheme aims to promote public policy research and provide evidence-based research to facilitate public policy discussion. Applications are accepted throughout the year. For the first round exercise in 2018-19, PICO received 21 applications. On the advice of an assessment panel, PICO decided to fund seven projects with a total funding of about $2.8 million.
 
     Assessments on the PPR Funding Scheme are conducted by the assessment panel comprising academics, taking into account the comments of reviewers who are academics and experts outside the panel. Each application is considered on its merits and contributions towards the making of public policies. A declaration of interests system is in place to ensure that the assessments are fair and just.
 
     Details of the funded projects have been uploaded to PICO's website (www.pico.gov.hk).

     The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (May 11) released the latest grading of water quality of 37 gazetted beaches and one non-gazetted beach (Discovery Bay) that are open for swimming.
        
     Twenty-four beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1), 10 as Fair (Grade 2) and four as Poor (Grade 3).
      
Grade 1 beaches are:        

 
Grade 2 beaches are:

 
Grade 3 beaches are:

 
     Compared with the grading released last week, Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach has been upgraded from Grade 3 to Grade 2. Castle Peak Beach, Clear Water Bay First Beach, Kadoorie Beach and Stanley Main Beach have been changed from Grade 1 to Grade 2; Hoi Mei Wan Beach, Lido Beach and Ting Kau Beach from Grade 2 to Grade 3.
      
     "The changes are generally within the normal range of fluctuation of the bacteriological water quality of the beaches," an EPD spokesman said.
      
     Under the present grading system, beaches are classified into four grades according to the level of E. coli in the water. Grades are calculated on the basis of the geometric mean of the E. coli counts on the five most recent sampling occasions.
      
     While the ratings represent the general water quality at the beaches, the EPD spokesman reminded members of the public that water quality could be temporarily affected during and after periods of heavy rain. Bathers should avoid swimming at beaches for up to three days after a storm or heavy rainfall.
      
     A summary of beach grades is published weekly before the weekend. Latest beach grades based on the most current data may be obtained from the department's websites on Beach Water Quality (www.beachwq.gov.hk or www.epd.gov.hk/epd/beach) or the beach hotline, 2511 6666.