The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Yau Ma Tei Outline Zoning Plan (OZP). 

     "The approved OZP provides a statutory land use planning framework to guide the development and redevelopment within the Yau Ma Tei area," a spokesman for the Town Planning Board said today (July 26). 
      
     The planning scheme area, covering about 122 hectares, is bounded by Jordan Road and Gascoigne Road to the south, the MTR East Rail Line to the east, Dundas Street to the north, and Ferry Street and Man Cheong Street to the west.
      
     The approved OZP has incorporated amendments shown on the draft Yau Ma Tei OZP No. S/K2/25, which mainly involve (i) removing the maximum plot ratio (PR) restriction for the "Commercial" ("C") zone; (ii) revising the maximum domestic PR restriction for the "Residential (Group A)" ("R(A)") zone; (iii) rezoning various sites along the character streets, including Temple Street (southern section) and Woosung Street, from "R(A)" to "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Mixed Use"; and (iv) relaxing the building height restrictions for the "C" and "R(A)" zones. The above amendments are intended to take forward some of the recommendations of the Urban Renewal Authority's District Study for Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok.
      
     Opportunity is also taken to amend the Notes and Explanatory Statement of the OZP to reflect the above amendments and to update the general information of various land use zonings and the planning circumstances, where appropriate.
      
     The approved Yau Ma Tei OZP No. S/K2/26 is available for public inspection during office hours at (i) the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board, (ii) the Planning Enquiry Counters, (iii) the Tsuen Wan and West Kowloon District Planning Office and (iv) the Yau Tsim Mong District Office. 
      
     Copies of the approved OZP are available for sale at the Map Publications Centres in North Point and Yau Ma Tei. The electronic version of the OZP can be viewed at the Town Planning Board's website (www.tpb.gov.hk).

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
     
     The 74th issue of "HA Risk Alert" was published today (July 26) by the Hospital Authority (HA) as a risk management and communication initiative to further strengthen the reporting and monitoring of clinical incidents in public hospitals.

     In the first quarter of 2024 (January to March), six sentinel events were reported, comprising one case of retained instruments/material after surgery/interventional procedure, two cases of wrong body part, one case of inpatient suicide and two cases in other category. Among the 23 reported serious untoward events, there were 20 related to medication errors and three patient misidentifications.

     "Subsequent to the incident reviews and analyses of the root causes of these incidents, important lessons for patient safety have been identified, while recommendations are made and shared in this publication to avoid similar events in the future," An HA spokesperson said.

     In addition, experts in emergency medicine and paediatrics appointed by the HA earlier have reviewed the guidelines on the practice of bedside procedures for paediatric patients in the public hospitals, and have provided a number of suggestions. The HA consolidated and published the expert review panel's suggestions in the latest "HA Risk Alert" and has again reminded clinical teams to strengthen the monitoring of the paediatrics patients when performing bedside clinical procedures, to improve communication with patients and their families, as well as to arrange procedural sedations for patients when necessary. 

     The HA has also earlier reminded clinical teams to carefully follow and execute the guidelines through co-ordinating committees and various platforms. Staff trainings will also be strengthened to ensure the safety of paediatrics patients during bedside procedures.

     The HA Head Office has released the latest "HA Risk Alert" to all staff. It can also be accessed by the public at www.ha.org.hk/riskalert. "HA Risk Alert" is published on a quarterly basis and posted on the HA website on the last working Friday in the months of January, April, July and October. The next issue is scheduled for October 25, 2024 (Friday).

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Friday, July 26, 2024 is 106.2 (up 0.1 against yesterday's index).

     The Government announced today (July 26) that the next round of recruitment exercises for the posts of Administrative Officer (AO), Executive Officer II (EOII), Assistant Trade Officer II (ATOII) and Transport Officer II (TOII) will begin in September 2024.

     As part of the entry requirements, applicants for these posts will need to attain: 

(a) Level 2 in the two language papers (Use of Chinese and Use of English) in the Common Recruitment Examination (CRE) or other results which are accepted as equivalent (details are set out on the Civil Service Bureau (CSB)'s website at www.csb.gov.hk/eng/cre.html);
(b) a Pass result in the Aptitude Test paper in the CRE; and
(c) a Pass result in the Basic Law and National Security Law Test (BLNST) (degree/professional grades).

     Candidates who wish to apply for the posts mentioned above but do not attain the requisite results should apply through an online application system on the CSB's website to take the relevant paper(s) in this round of the CRE and the BLNST in order to be considered for appointment. The CRE and the BLNST will be held in Hong Kong, and tentatively in Beijing, Shanghai and five overseas cities, with details as follows:

     In addition, students who are pursuing a bachelor's degree or equivalent, and graduating in the years of 2025 or 2026 are also eligible to apply for the posts and/or apply to take the CRE and the BLNST.

     Details relating to the CRE and the BLNST and the online application system will be made available on the CSB's website during the respective application periods. Details of the 2024-25 AO, EOII, ATOII and TOII recruitment exercises will be separately announced in September.

     The CSB may adjust the arrangements for the CRE and the BLNST as appropriate. Please refer to the CSB's website at www.csb.gov.hk/eng/cre.html for any updates on the examination arrangements.

     In response to the Japanese Government's plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
     For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
     As the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is unprecedented and will continue for 30 years or more, the Government will closely monitor and step up the testing arrangements. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.
 
     From noon on July 25 to noon today (July 26), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 302 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the "aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt" category. No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS's thematic website titled "Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan" (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).

     In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 52 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD's website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
     The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO's website
(www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
     From August 24 to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 71 386 samples of food imported from Japan (including 45 830 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 16 746 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests.