â€‹The Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, today (October 16) attended the meeting of the 74th session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in Manila, the Philippines.
      
     This is the first face-to-face meeting of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific after resuming from the COVID-19 epidemic to full normalcy. The meeting, held from October 16 to 20, gathered representatives from 34 member states and areas. As part of the delegation of the People's Republic of China, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region delegation is led by Dr Lam, with members including Assistant Director of Health Dr Jackie Leung and others.
      
     During the meeting, representatives from member states and areas will discuss proposals and frameworks on health security, health innovation, health communication, health workforce, etc. Dr Lam will lead the Hong Kong delegation to exchange views with representatives from member states and areas on issues including prevention and control of communicable diseases and non-communicable diseases, antibiotic resistance, measures to fight against the coronavirus epidemic, etc.
      
     The Department of Health (DH) has all along been supporting the health strategies of the Mainland to contribute to global public health. Meanwhile, the DH also aligns with the work of the WHO and the Mainland in combating various public health challenges. The DH is designated as the WHO Collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Smoking Cessation and Treatment of Tobacco Dependence. Furthermore, the Public Health Laboratory Services Branch of the Centre for Health Protection of the DH is also designated by the WHO as a reference laboratory for various communicable diseases including COVID-19, which contributes significantly to global anti-epidemic efforts.

    

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by ZA Bank Limited relating to a fraudulent website, mobile application (App) and internet banking login screen, which have been reported to the HKMA. A hyperlink to the press release is available on the HKMA website.

     The HKMA wishes to remind the public that banks will not send SMS or emails with embedded hyperlinks which direct them to the banks' websites to carry out transactions. They will not ask customers for sensitive personal information, such as login passwords or one-time password, by phone, email or SMS (including via embedded hyperlinks).

     Anyone who has provided his or her personal information, or who has conducted any financial transactions, through or in response to the website, App or login screen concerned, should contact the bank using the contact information provided in the press release, and report the matter to the Police by contacting the Crime Wing Information Centre of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.

The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:
 
     The 2023 District Council Ordinary Election will be held on December 10 (Sunday). The nomination period for the election will run from tomorrow (October 17) to October 30.
 
     The Chairman of the Election Affairs Commission, Mr Justice David Lok, today (October 16) visited the Returning Officer's office at the Central and Western District Office where nomination forms will be received. He inspected the procedures for receiving nomination forms and the preparatory work at the venue.
 
     Mr Justice Lok said, "Arrangements at the offices of the Returning Officers at 18 Districts are all ready and the staff will ensure smooth operation of the work of receiving nomination forms starting from tomorrow."
 
     Mr Justice Lok had already held a briefing earlier (October 3) for the Returning Officers where he highlighted the important roles and responsibilities of the Returning Officers and reminded the Returning Officers to carry out the electoral work in strict compliance with the relevant electoral laws and guidelines to ensure that the election will be conducted in an open, fair and honest manner.
 
     A nominee for the District Council geographical constituency (DCGC) election and the District Committees constituency (DCC) election must be a registered geographical constituency elector aged 21 or above. They must also have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for three years immediately preceding the date of the nomination.
 
     Each prospective candidate for the DCC election must be subscribed by at least three but not more than six members from each of the District Committees (i.e. the Area Committee, the District Fight Crime Committee and the District Fire Safety Committee (collectively known as the "three committees")) in the relevant District as electors for the DCC. Each DCC elector may nominate up to the number of candidates to be returned for the respective DCC in the District. A candidate for the DCC election needs not be a member of the "three committees".
    
     For the DCGC election, a prospective candidate must be subscribed by at least 50 but not more than 100 registered electors for the DCGC concerned and also be subscribed by at least three but not more than six members of each of the three District Committees in the relevant District as DCC electors. A DCGC elector may nominate only one candidate in his/her own DCGC. But if a DCGC elector is also a DCC elector, he/she can also nominate one candidate in each DCGC in the relevant District as a DCC elector.
 
     Completed nomination forms and the election deposit of $3,000 must be submitted by the nominees in person to the Returning Officer for the constituency concerned between 9am and 5pm from Mondays to Fridays and between 9am and noon on Saturdays within the nomination period. Nominees are advised to submit their nominations as early as possible to allow time to correct mistakes, if any, in the nomination forms before the end of the nomination period.
 
     Nomination forms are available at the District Offices, and the offices of the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) (8/F, Treasury Building, 3 Tonkin Street West, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon or Unit 2301-03, 23/F, Millennium City 6, 392 Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon). They can also be downloaded from the REO website (www.reo.gov.hk) and the election website (www.elections.gov.hk).
 
     For enquiries, please call the election hotline on 2891 1001 or visit the election website.

          

     â€‹The Organic Resources Recovery Centre Phase 2 (O．PARK2) of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), which is one of a kind of low-carbon building projects in Hong Kong, has received the Brunel Award from the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in the United Kingdom in 2023.
      
     The Brunel Award recognises civil engineering and infrastructure projects for their accomplishments in carbon reduction. The Director of Environmental Protection, Dr Samuel Chui, said that O．PARK2 offers valuable experience and serves as a model for Hong Kong's low-carbon building projects. He expressed gratitude to the ICE for acknowledging the efforts and achievements of the EPD in promoting and implementing low-carbon building initiatives.
      
     The award presentation ceremony took place in London on October 13, and the Assistant Director (Waste Infrastructure), Mr Michael Lui, attended the event on behalf of the department to receive the award.
      
     In addition to the Brunel Award, O．PARK2 has also received several other accolades. It achieved the highest rating of "Carbon Neutral" in the "Low Carbon Building (Process) Label" by CarbonCare InnoLab in 2021, and won the championship award in the United Nations Industrial Development Organization's Global Call 2022. Moreover, it received the Gold Award in this year's Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence.
      
     O．PARK2 utilises anaerobic digestion technology to convert food waste into electricity and fertiliser, realising the circular transformation of food waste into renewable energy. It is estimated to reduce approximately 67 000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year. During the construction phase, O．PARK2's contractors have adopted low-carbon construction techniques, including the use of low-carbon building materials such as low-carbon concrete with 60 per cent ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), carbon-captured concrete blocks, low-carbon cement, and 100 per cent recycled low-carbon steel reinforcement. Additionally, it will utilise a Battery Energy Storage System to replace traditional diesel-driven power generation and offset the remaining carbon emissions through carbon credits to achieve carbon neutrality during the project's construction phase.
      
     O．PARK2 will commence operations in 2024 and can handle 300 metric tons of food waste per day. Together with the existing O．PARK1 and the Food Waste/Sewage Sludge Anaerobic Co-digestion Trial Scheme implemented in Tai Po and Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works, Hong Kong's total food waste recycling capacity is expected to increase to 600 metric tons per day after the completion of O．PARK2.
      

    

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (October 16) that in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Meeker County of the State of Minnesota and Sanpete County of the State of Utah in the United States (US), the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above-mentioned areas 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 12 280 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 19.5 million poultry eggs from the US in the first six months of this year.

     â€‹"The CFS has contacted the American authority over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.