The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (January 10) that in view of a notification from the Swedish Board of Agriculture about an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in the Municipality of Sjöbo in Skåne County in Sweden, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the area with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 50 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from Sweden in the first nine months of last year.

     "The CFS has contacted the Swedish authority over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the World Organisation for Animal Health and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreak. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.

     Following is a question by the Hon Yang Wing-kit and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, in the Legislative Council today (January 10):
 
Question:
 
     It is learnt that incidents of water mains burst occur from time to time in Hong Kong, causing serious traffic impact and inconvenience to passers-by, and many members of the public are worried about the hidden dangers of water mains bursts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the number of water mains burst incidents in each of the 18 districts in Hong Kong in each of the past three years, and the following information in relation to such incidents: (i) the locations, (ii) the causes of the incidents, (iii) the year in which the relevant water mains were installed, (iv) the burst record of the water mains prior to the incidents, (v) the year in which the water mains were last replaced or repaired, and (vi) whether the water mains have been included in the District Metering Areas (DMAs) of the Water Intelligent Network (WIN);
 
(2) of the current coverage of DMAs of WIN and the progress of the works, and whether it has assessed the effectiveness of WIN in monitoring water mains bursts; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(3) of the list and timetable of works projects included in the Risk-based Improvement Programme of Water Mains, with a breakdown by District Council district and project progress (i.e. (i) those for which replacement or rehabilitation works have been completed, (ii) those for which the relevant improvement works have commenced, and (iii) those under planning);
 
(4) of the follow-up situation of the "main burst hot spots" (i.e. locations with repeated water main bursts) in each of the 18 districts in Hong Kong in each of the past three years, and the longest, shortest and average time taken to complete the improvement works at such main burst hot spots; and
 
(5) as it is learnt that the Drainage Services Department has introduced a remotely operated pipeline inspection robot to assist in the investigation of the condition of underground drains, whether the authorities have used pipeline inspection robots to investigate the condition of water mains, and introduced other latest leak detection technologies to strengthen water pressure management; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     The Water Supplies Department (WSD) has all along been committed to providing the public with reliable, sufficient and quality water supply. Through continuous improvement in asset management and making good use of technology, the WSD strives to ensure the effective operation of the water supply networks.
 
     From 2000 to 2015, the WSD carried out a territory-wide replacement and rehabilitation of water mains programme to replace and rehabilitate about 3,000-kilometre long aged water mains (including fresh and salt water mains), thereby raising the healthiness of the water supply networks.
      
     Since 2015, the WSD has implemented multi-pronged measures, including adopting a "risk-based asset management programme for water mains" by introducing factors such as age of use, materials, past records of bursts or leaks, surrounding environment and consequence resulting from bursts or leaks, for assessing the risk of water mains so as to replace or rehabilitate specific sections of water mains with higher risk progressively with a view to continuously maintaining the healthiness of the water supply networks and reducing the risks of water main bursts or leaks.
      
     Besides, the WSD is establishing approximately 2 400 Water Intelligent Network (WIN) district metering areas (DMAs) within the fresh water distribution networks in the territory. In addition to monitoring leakage in the networks to timely carry out maintenance works for damaged mains, the risks of main bursts or leaks can be reduced by detecting and adjusting water pressure through the pressure management devices installed in the WIN.
      
     The WSD has also established a "main burst hotspot" mechanism. If more than one main burst (with diameter of 150 millimetres or above) occurs within a 400-metre long road section in two years, the WSD will designate the location as a "main burst hotspot" and arrange for expedited replacement or rehabilitation of the concerned water main so as to reduce the risk of recurrent main bursts.
      
     The above measures can effectively manage the condition of water supply networks and facilitate targeted measures (such as replacement, rehabilitation, pressure reduction) for high-risk water mains so as to reduce the risks of main bursts or leaks. In fact, the situation of main bursts and leakage has been continuously improved in recent years.
      
     Through the abovementioned multi-pronged measures and with efforts over the years, the number of annual main burst cases has been greatly reduced from around 2 500 in 2000 to 30 cases in 2023 (as of November 30). In the same period, the leakage rate of fresh water mains has also dropped from over 25 per cent to around 14 per cent.
 
     The replies to various parts of the Hon Yang’s question are as follows:
 
(1) In the past three years, the WSD recorded a total of 95 main burst incidents, and their distribution is tabulated in Annex 1. Most of the water mains involved were aged ones laid in the 1990s or earlier without any previous burst records. The remaining main burst incidents were mainly caused by accidents during excavation works. At present, the concerned water mains have been included in the monitoring scope of the "risk-based asset management programme for water mains" and/or the WIN.
 
(2) By end-2023, the WSD has established around 1 960 DMAs (out of around 2 400 DMAs) covering all districts across Hong Kong. Their distribution is tabulated in Annex 2. The remaining DMAs are expected to be completed in around 2025.
 
(3) As of 2023, a total of approximately 490km long water mains has been included in the "risk-based asset management programme for water mains". Amongst them, approximately 185km long water mains have been replaced or rehabilitated while the improvement works for the rest are underway or will be progressively carried out. The relevant figures by district are tabulated in Annex 3.
 
(4) Currently, "main burst hotspot" water mains improvement works are being carried out in various districts. During the period of 2021 to 2023 (as of November 30), the WSD has completed a total of 21 "main burst hotspot" improvement projects. The number of hotspots and the distribution of improvement works by district are tabulated in Annex 4. Regarding the construction period, some hotspots located at busy road sections and in the vicinity of residential areas involve relatively complex temporary traffic arrangements and different construction constraints (e.g. time window for construction and arrangements for water supply suspension), hence requiring longer time for planning and construction. Based on past records, the shortest time for planning and construction was around two years, the longest was around seven years, with an average of some four years.
 
(5) The WSD has all along been making reference to and adopting globally prevailing advanced leakage detection measures and technologies for continuous monitoring of the situation of water main leakage, including the application of acoustic investigation for leakage detection, installing noise loggers, at busy road sections and important water mains.
 
     Besides, the WSD has conducted on-site tests at specific locations on in-line inspection robot, utilising image processing algorithms and ultrasonic probes to inspect the interior water main surfaces for assessing the health conditions of the water mains. In addition, the WSD is collaborating with the research team of local university to explore feasible ways to enhance the robotic technologies for inspection of water mains, including a more convenient and efficient approach for enabling robots to enter water mains, as well as incorporating artificial intelligence for automating the inspection of the water main surfaces, so as to enhance the efficiency of leakage detection.

     Following is a question by the Hon Rock Chen and a reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (January 10):

Question:

     It has been reported that after the Government amended the legislation in April last year to increase the maximum penalties for occupational safety and health (OSH) offences, there have still been a number of industrial accidents in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) given that the construction industry has been adopting the subcontracting system all along, whether it has compiled statistics on the respective numbers of principal contractors and subcontractors (including sub-subcontractors) among the companies or individuals convicted of breaching OSH-related legislation in the past five years; if not, whether it will consider compiling the relevant statistics, so as to facilitate the authorities to formulate policies on preventing industrial accidents;

(2) as some members of the public have queried the deterrent effect of OSH-related legislation, whether the Government has stepped up law enforcement as well as publicity and education efforts, so as to promote a culture of occupational safety in the construction industry; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3) given that imported workers under the Labour Importation Scheme for the Construction Sector are gradually arriving to work in Hong Kong, of the measures introduced by the Government to enhance their skills and awareness of occupational safety, and whether it has assessed if the relevant occupational safety courses and equipment operation training are sufficient to enable imported workers, who are unfamiliar with the local working environment, to carry out their work safely?

Reply:

President,
 
     Having consulted the Development Bureau, my consolidated reply to the questions is as follows:

(1) The numbers of convicted summonses in the past five years on breaching the occupational safety and health (OSH) legislation by construction contractors (including "companies" and "individuals") are tabled in Annex. Among them, the number of such summonses in 2023 (as at the end of November) is 1 352.

     Regardless of being a "company" or an "individual", one could undertake different works projects in the capacity as a principal contractor or a subcontractor. As their capacities may vary in different projects, the Labour Department (LD) does not keep statistics of companies or individuals convicted of breaching OSH-related legislation by categorising them as a principal contractor or a subcontractor. 

(2) Pursuant to the risk-based principle and keeping close tabs on the OSH risk levels of various industries and their changes, the LD formulates and adjusts the three-pronged approach including inspection and enforcement, publicity and promotion, as well as education and training in a timely manner to promote OSH culture and prevent accidents from happening. The legislative amendment last year to increase the penalties of OSH offences is one of the strategies to improve the OSH performance of Hong Kong.

     In order to achieve the aforesaid goal of improving OSH, apart from routine inspections, the LD has also committed to improving the OSH performance of the construction industry through a series of targeted measures. These include conducting four special enforcement operations targeting the construction industry since April last year to curb unsafe practices; 31 in-depth surprise inspections targeting construction sites with poor safety performance and possible deficiencies in their safe systems of work; as well as area patrols targeting minor Renovation, Maintenance, Alteration and Addition works sites (especially those involving truss-out scaffolding).

     To further strengthen inspection and enforcement efforts, the LD also set up a number of Special Task Forces in November 2023 to continue targeting construction sites, in particular sites of new works and sites involving high-risk work processes for carrying out rigorous inspections and enforcement actions.
 
     On publicity and promotion, since the increase in the penalties for OSH offences in April 2023, the LD has rolled out comprehensive publicity campaigns, including launching a set of newly-produced television announcements in the public interest (API), radio APIs and a poster to strengthen the promotion of the new penalties. At the same time, the LD also issued press releases, provided the latest information on the new penalties on the LD's website and the "Work Safety Alert" mobile application, jointly organised talks with the industry, sent emails to the duty holders concerned to brief them on the legislation etc., so as to alert the industry and members of the public on the new penalties for OSH offences. At the end of last year, the LD launched a new round of publicity on public transport, main road tunnel portals and screens on external walls of shopping malls.

     On the other hand, the LD launched a set of promotional videos with the themes of "truss-out bamboo scaffolds", "OSH Star Enterprise Scheme", "electrical work", "the revised OSH legislation" and "general potential work hazards in construction sites", etc. in collaboration with the Occupational Safety and Health Council (OSHC) in mid-December 2023. In order to further enhance publicity, a TV programme of five two-minute episodes has also been produced by the LD and the OSHC for the promotion of OSH messages. The programme has commenced to broadcast on television and multimedia platform from this Monday (January 8).
 
     In respect of education and training, the LD has recently updated the contents of the mandatory basic safety training course for the construction industry (i.e. the Green Card course for construction sector) and mandatory safety training courses of confined spaces operation, so as to enhance safety awareness of workers and their ability to prevent accident. At the same time, workers who completed the Green Card course are required to attend the revalidation course three years later before they can renew their "Green Cards". Workers can also revisit the main contents of the courses on the LD's website at any time to refresh their knowledge.

     Concurrently, the LD organises a number of free training courses on a regular basis on work safety in the construction industry and the requirements of the law, and co-organises OSH talks and online seminars of different themes with individual organisations from time to time and arranges staff to serve as speakers. The Occupational Safety and Health Training Centre of the LD organised 813 courses and talks last year, 592 of which were related to work safety in the construction industry.

(3) To address the manpower shortage of the construction sector, the Government has been adopting multi-pronged measures including enhancing training of local workers, recruiting new blood and promoting the application of technologies for uplifting productivity across the sector, and implementing the Labour Importation Scheme for the Construction Sector (the Scheme).
 
     Under the Scheme, imported workers must be workers with relevant skills who have the relevant site works experience and safety knowledge. They must abide by Hong Kong's regulations in relation to construction safety, including the following:

(i) imported workers must complete the Green Card course for construction sector;

(ii) imported workers must comply with the "designated workers for designated skills" requirement where they work under the instruction and supervision of semi-skilled or skilled workers unless they have passed the tests and registered as semi-skilled or skilled workers; and

(iii) if the imported labour need to carry out the work procedures which, in accordance with the law, must be performed by a competent person (such as operation of an excavator), they must have passed the tests recognised by relevant local authorities or obtained equivalent qualifications before carrying out such work procedures.

     In addition, the Smart Site Safety System must be adopted at all sites engaged with imported workers. Principal contractors under the Scheme are also required to assign a designated safety officer to be in charge of the safety briefing and arrangement for training related measures for their imported labour, and give on-site explanation of site operation in Hong Kong and the requirements with which they should comply, including those on site safety. The policy bureaux, departments and contractors responsible for the relevant works contracts approved under the Scheme have advised that the above requirements have been duly implemented and they will continue to ensure their compliance at work sites as part of their ongoing monitoring of the performance of contractors.

     Hong Kong Customs yesterday (January 9) detected a case of importing a large quantity of foreign currency banknotes involving an incoming passenger at the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point. The amount involved is equivalent to about HK$330,000, and a local woman was arrested.
      
     Customs officers intercepted a 62-year-old female incoming passenger at the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point yesterday for Customs clearance. A small batch of undeclared foreign currency banknotes was first found in an eco-bag carried by the female passenger. Then, a large batch of undeclared foreign currency banknotes was found concealed within a tailor-made vest she was wearing during subsequent personal search. The total sum of foreign currency banknotes found is equivalent to about HK$330,000, which has exceeded the limit of HK$120,000 as stipulated by the Cross-boundary Movement of Physical Currency and Bearer Negotiable Instruments Ordinance (CBNIO), and the passenger was subsequently arrested.
      
     Customs reminds members of the public that under the CBNIO, a traveller who arrives in Hong Kong via a specified control point and is in possession of a large quantity of currency and bearer negotiable instruments (CBNIs) (i.e. the total value of which is more than HK$120,000) must make a written declaration to a Customs officer, using the Red Channel under the Red and Green Channel System. Persons who do not comply with the CBNIO will be liable to a maximum penalty of a fine of HK$500,000 and imprisonment for two years. Declaration forms are available at the Red Channel of the Customs Arrival Hall and on the website of the Customs and Excise Department.
      
     Customs also appeals to members of the public to stay alert and not to import or export a large quantity of unknown source of CBNIs on behalf of another party.
      
     Members of the public may report any suspected violation of the above-mentioned ordinances to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002/).
 

  

     The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (January 10) the results of the Monthly Survey on Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) for December 2023.
 
     The current diffusion index (DI) on business receipts amongst SMEs increased from 44.0 in November 2023 in the contractionary zone to 45.5 in December 2023, whereas the one-month's ahead (i.e. January 2024) outlook DI on business receipts was 47.9. Analysed by sector, the current DIs on business receipts for many surveyed sectors rose by varying degrees in December 2023 as compared with previous month, particularly for the retail trade (from 42.0 to 44.9) and import and export trades (from 43.6 to 45.6).
       
     The current DI on new orders for the import and export trades increased from 43.9 in November 2023 to 45.3 in December 2023, whereas the outlook DI on new orders in one month’s time (i.e. January 2024) was 46.7.
 
Commentary
 
     A Government spokesman said that overall business sentiment among SMEs saw some improvement in December. The overall employment situation was broadly stable. Nonetheless, expectations on the business situation in one month's time weakened slightly.
 
     Looking forward, the spokesman said that business sentiment should be supported by the expected further recovery of consumption- and tourism-related activities, but the challenging external environment and tight financial conditions will continue to be a dampener. The Government will monitor the situation closely.
 
Further information
 
     The Monthly Survey on Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises aims to provide a quick reference, with minimum time lag, for assessing the short-term business situation faced by SMEs. SMEs covered in this survey refer to establishments with fewer than 50 persons engaged. Respondents were asked to exclude seasonal fluctuations in reporting their views. Based on the views collected from the survey, a set of diffusion indices (including current and outlook diffusion indices) is compiled. A reading above 50 indicates that the business condition is generally favourable, whereas that below 50 indicates otherwise. As for statistics on the business prospects of prominent establishments in Hong Kong, users may refer to the publication entitled "Report on Quarterly Business Tendency Survey" released by the C&SD.
 
     The results of the survey should be interpreted with care. The survey solicits feedback from a panel sample of about 600 SMEs each month and the survey findings are thus subject to sample size constraint. Views collected from the survey refer only to those of respondents on their own establishments rather than those on the respective sectors they are engaged in. Besides, in this type of opinion survey on expected business situation, the views collected in the survey are affected by the events in the community occurring around the time of enumeration, and it is difficult to establish precisely the extent to which respondents' perception of the business situation accords with the underlying trends. For this survey, main bulk of the data were collected around the last week of the reference month.
 
     More detailed statistics are given in the "Report on Monthly Survey on the Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises". Users can browse and download the publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1080015&scode=300).
 
     Users who have enquiries about the survey results may contact Industrial Production Statistics Section of the C&SD (Tel: 3903 7246; email: sme-survey@censtatd.gov.hk).