The Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Ms Louise Ho, yesterday (July 3) led 10 Customs officers and 50 members of "Customs YES" to Sichuan to learn about the national cultural heritage conservation works. &nb… read more
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (July 4) announced that a sample of bottled preserved bean curd was found to contain an excessive amount of Bacillus cereus. Members of the public should not consume the affected batch of the product. The trade should also stop using or selling the affected batch of the product immediately if they possess it.
Product details are as follows:
Product name: (Not available in English)
Place of origin: Hong Kong
Net weight: 255 grams
Best-before date: April 16, 2025
Manufacturer: LIU MA KEE LIMITED
“The CFS collected the above-mentioned sample from a retail outlet in Sai Ying Pun for testing under its routine Food Surveillance Programme. The test result showed that the sample contained Bacillus cereus at a level of 130 000 per gram. According to the Microbiological Guidelines for Food, if ready-to-eat food contains Bacillus cereus at a level of more than 100 000 per gram, it is considered unsatisfactory,” a spokesman for the CFS said.
The spokesman said that the CFS has informed the vendor concerned of the irregularity and has instructed the vendor to stop sales and to remove from shelves the affected batch of the product. The manufacturer concerned has initiated a recall of the affected batch of the product according to the CFS’s instructions. Members of the public may call the manufacturer’s hotline at 2730 2968 during office hours for enquiries about the product recall. The CFS has also inspected the food factory concerned, provided health education on food safety and hygiene to the person-in-charge and staff of the food factory, and requested it to review and improve the food production process and carry out thorough cleaning and disinfection. In addition, the sample did not indicate the best-before date according to the requirements stipulated in the Food and Drugs (Composition and Labelling) Regulations (Cap. 132W). Prosecution will be instituted against the persons concerned should there be sufficient evidence.
“Bacillus cereus is commonly found in the environment. Unhygienic conditions in food processing and storage may give rise to its growth. Consuming food contaminated with excessive Bacillus cereus or its heat-stable toxins may cause gastrointestinal upset such as vomiting and diarrhoea,” the spokesman said.
The CFS will alert the trade to the incident, and will continue to follow up and take appropriate action. The investigation is ongoing. read more
Smart Grand Engineering Limited was fined $25,000 at the Western Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts today (July 4) for violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance. The prosecution was launched by the Labour Department.
The case involved a fatal accident that occurred on December 15, 2022, at a container terminal in Kwai Chung. A fender panel, while being filled with compressed air for leak testing, suddenly ruptured and generated a strong airflow. A worker engaged in the work was thrown into the air by the airflow and fell back on the ground. The worker sustained serious head injuries and passed away on the same day. Another worker in the vicinity was hit by a component of the ruptured fender panel and sustained laceration injuries. read more
Following are the opening remarks by the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, at a media session today (July 4) on the quarterly land sale programme for July to September 2024:
Today I will introduce the Government’s Land Sale Programme in the second quarter of this financial year, that is July to September 2024.
The Government will put up for tender a residential site in Siu Lek Yuen in Sha Tin, providing a supply of about 570 flats. You may be aware that among the sites put onto this year’s Land Sale Programme, two residential sites are located in Sha Tin. The first site, which is smaller in size, has already been put up for sale in the first quarter, and the tender is ongoing. The site I announced just now, to be rolled out in this quarter, is the second one in the same locality.
In addition, the Urban Renewal Authority plans to tender in this quarter its development project on Kai Tak Road/Sa Po Road in Kowloon City, providing a supply of around 810 flats.
For private development and redevelopment projects, three are expected to complete their lease modifications in the second quarter, providing a supply of about 410 flats.
To summarise, taking all the above sources of land supply into account, the total private housing land supply in the second quarter would support the development of around 1 790 flats.
Together with the supply from the first quarter, the total supply of the first half of this financial year is expected to support some 4 065 flats, which is around 30 per cent of our annual supply target at 13 200 flats. This figure has not yet reflected private redevelopment projects not requiring lease modification from the second quarter, as such figures are only available at a later stage.
For industrial sites, you may be aware of the Development Bureau’s announcement last week, announcing that we aim to put up for sale a site in Hung Shui Kiu. This site is around 77 700 square metres, close to 8 hectares, and its maximum gross floor area could reach 544 000 sq m. The site will be used for the development of Multi-storey Buildings for Modern Industries mainly for logistics, and will provide certain floor area to the Government to assist brownfield operators affected by government development clearance exercises. We will strive to complete the removal of the community isolation facilities now on the site, the drafting of land lease conditions and the formulation of tender arrangements as soon as possible. Our target is to roll out the site for tender by the end of the second quarter. We will adopt a two-envelope tender approach, while specific details on the ratio of non-premium and premium proposals as well as the floor area to be provided to the Government will be announced at the time of tender.
Working towards the annual supply target, the Government will continue to monitor market situation, and holistically consider supply from various sources, so as to make fitting land disposal arrangements for each quarter and provide land to the market for economic and residential development in a paced manner.
Thank you. read more
The Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, today (July 4) attended a food waste recycling promotion event held at Ping Shek Estate in Kwun Tong, marking the completion of the expansion of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD)’s food waste collection scheme to all public rental housing (PRH) estates across the territory, which was accomplished two months ahead of the original target.
The EPD, in collaboration with the Housing Department and the Hong Kong Housing Society, launched the Food Waste Collection Scheme in PRH Estates in late October 2022, targeting to collect food waste by setting up food waste smart recycling bins (FWSRBs) in all of the 213 PRH estates in the territory by the end of August this year and cultivate residents’ good habits of food waste recycling. As of the end of June this year, the EPD has installed a total of 740 FWSRBs covering all of the PRH estates, which was two months ahead of the original target.
“Since taking office, the current-term Government has made great efforts to expedite strengthening recycling facilities, especially on the collection of domestic food waste, which accounts for 30 per cent of municipal solid waste. The expansion of the Food Waste Collection Scheme to all PRH estates across the territory ahead of schedule fully demonstrated the Government’s determination and achievements in promoting waste reduction and recycling,” Mr Tse said.
He added that the food waste collected from PRH estates will be delivered to various food waste treatment facilities for conversion into electricity and compost. The EPD will continue to install FWSRBs in newly developed PRH estates and has planned to provide additional FWSRBs with priority given to PRH estates with higher quantities of collected food waste, starting from the third quarter of this year. The department will also progressively increase the number of FWSRBs in other PRH estates, with the goal of providing at least “one FWSRB per PRH block” within two years to facilitate the public’s food waste recycling.
In addition to PRH estates, the Government has been supporting the installation of FWSRBs in private residential buildings and rural villages for collecting food waste through the Recycling Fund and the Environment and Conservation Fund. At the end of last year, the EPD also collaborated with the Environmental Campaign Committee to roll out the Pilot Scheme on FWSRBs in Private Housing Estates, under which FWSRBs are provided for free to private housing estates with over 1 000 households. The EPD will expand the existing scheme to cover private housing estates with fewer than 1 000 households. Details will be announced in the third quarter of this year.
To enable residents living in single-block residential buildings or “three-nil buildings” to participate in food waste recycling in the coming year, the EPD will further enhance various schemes for food waste collection in the domestic sector, including setting up 100 food waste recycling spots that provide night-time food waste collection services in the form of kerbside collection booths at fixed times and locations, and also establishing food waste recycling points at about 100 Refuse Collection Points. Moreover, the EPD has installed FWSRBs for public use in four GREEN@COMMUNITY facilities (GREEN@SHAM SHUI PO, GREEN@EASTERN, GREEN@SAI KUNG and GREEN@SHA TIN) and at Lockhart Road Market, and is preparing to expand it to GREEN@TUEN MUN by mid-July of this year.
The awareness of waste reduction and recycling in the community has increased in general. With the introduction of various measures to facilitate public participation in food waste recycling, together with publicity and education as well as the provision of GREEN$ rewards to encourage active participation of the public, the EPD expects that the quantity of food waste recycled will progressively increase, and it will continue to encourage more residents to participate in food waste recycling through various means.
