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Following is a question by the Hon Ma Lik and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (January 10) :
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council of:
(a) the respective numbers of complaints received, in each of the past three years, from coastal residents about the noise nuisance caused by vessels, with a breakdown by the districts in which they live;
(b) the procedure adopted by the authorities for handling such complaints and the follow-up actions they have taken; and
(c) the measures and legislation in place to regulate the level of noise emission and the operation areas of vessels, in order to minimize the noise nuisance caused by vessels to coastal residents; whether it has assessed if there is a need to step up regulation; if it has and the assessment result is in the affirmative, of the options under consideration?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Marine Department and the Environmental Protection Department received a total of 17, 13 and 12 complaints about vessel traffic noise in 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively. The locations involved are as follows:
Year Location No. of Complaints Total
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2004 Aberdeen 3
Shau Kei Wan 3
Sai Wan Ho 1
Kwun Tong 1
Hung Hom 2
Mong Kok 1
Tsing Yi 4
Tsuen Wan 1
Sha Tin 1 17
2005 Aberdeen 2
Shau Kei Wan 1
Tsing Yi 1
North Point 1
Hung Hom 1
Tung Chung 1
Tai Kok Tsui 1
Yau Ma Tei 1
Kwun Tong 2
Sham Tseng/
Tsing Lung Tau 1
Mui Wo 1 13
2006 Aberdeen 1
Shau Kei Wan 1
Tai Kok Tsui 1
Hung Hom 1
Mong Kok 1
Kwai Chung 1
Tsing Yi 1
Tsuen Wan 2
Sai Kung 1
Ma Wan 1
Pui O 1 12
(b) The Marine Department and the Hong Kong Police Force will follow up complaints received from the public about the noise nuisance caused by vessels. The enforcement officer(s) will first issue advice to the coxswain or the person-in-charge of the vessel to require him to minimize the noise, and will also encourage the shipowner to install an engine silencer for the vessel. The two departments have also published and distributed leaflets to shipowners to remind ship operators to take noise abatement measures. For example, the Marine Region of the Police Force has issued over 1,800 leaflets to vessels for water trades and pleasure vessels within Hong Kong waters since June 2006.
(c) At present, traffic noise of moving vessels is not subject to control under the Noise Control Ordinance. Since January 2, 2007, the Code of Practice issued under the Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) Ordinance has laid down technical guidelines on the main engine of a local vessel, requiring that the engine exhaust pipe be installed with a silencer or an expansion chamber to reduce the noise generated by a vessel in operation. The silencer or expansion chamber is one of the inspection items during vessel surveys. As for the restricted areas of navigation, they are established for the sake of navigation safety and have nothing to do with noise control. The Government currently imposes control on the noise generated by vessels in operation by means of the above ordinance and the current arrangements are effective on the whole. Therefore, the Government has no plan to change the regulatory arrangements for the time being. We will continue to monitor the vessel noise problem and will conduct a review if necessary.
Ends/Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Issued at HKT 13:50
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