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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan in the Legislative Council today (April 1):
Question:
It has been reported that in the past few months, several fires broke out at waste recovery yards which produced a lot of dense toxic smoke and also spread to residential areas nearby. At present, many waste recovery yards are situated in open space in the rural areas of the New Territories and do not have adequate fire service installations. The Hong Kong Fire Services Department has indicated that waste recovery yards are not subject to the regulation of the Fire Services Ordinance (Cap. 95) unless chemicals are stored in them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) how it assesses the fire risk of waste recovery yards;
(b) whether it plans to review if waste recovery yards should be brought within the ambit of the Fire Services Ordinance; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(c) given that the financial tsunami has resulted in a decrease in the amount of waste exported, and the situation of waste accumulation at waste recovery yards is getting more and more serious, whether the authorities will introduce some temporary measures to assist recyclers in solving the problem of waste accumulation, so as to reduce the likelihood of fire at waste recovery yards; and
(d) whether it will consider providing financial assistance to encourage recyclers to retrofit fire service installations at their recovery yards?
Reply:
President,
(a) As assessed by the Fire Services Department (FSD), the fire risk of individual waste recovery yards varies according to the type of the wastes stored as well as the environment in which the wastes are stored (e.g. in open space or closed premises). Generally speaking, FSD considers normal wastes (such as paper and metal) that are kept in open waste recovery yards have lower fire load and risk. The fire risk will increase when the same are kept in roofed structures inside the recovery yards. The fire risk will become very high if the wastes are dangerous goods. The recovery yards concerned must meet all fire safety requirements under the Dangerous Goods Ordinance (Cap. 295) and provide the associated facilities.
(b) Any person who intends to operate a waste recovery yard on Government land or private agricultural land can apply for a Short Term Tenancy (STT) or Short Term Waiver (STW) leased from the Lands Department (Lands D). The application will be referred to relevant departments, including the FSD, Environmental Protection Department (EPD), Planning Department and Water Supplies Department for consideration. As far as the FSD is concerned, upon receipt of the referral from the Lands D, it will conduct an on-site inspection to assess the fire risk involved, and advise the Lands D of the necessary fire safety requirements to be included into the relevant STT or STW. Fire safety requirements for open waste recovery yards generally include: emergency vehicular access arrangements; provision of water supplies nearby for fire fighting; and appropriate fire service installations for buildings (if any) inside the yard.
The approval mechanism for an STT or STW of the Lands D has effectively incorporated the restrictions imposed by relevant departments on the regulation of recycling materials, including the fire safety requirements of FSD. Therefore, there is no need for the Government to introduce separate legislations or legislative amendments to regulate the operators of these short-term sites.
(c) In facing the current economic crisis, the EPD and the Lands D will, in response to the industry's request, put to auction several sub-urban STT sites for recyclers to bid for their use. This is to help them handle the recycling materials collected from local sources and maintain operation during the economic downturn.
(d) At present, when a tender or application for operating a waste recovery yard is approved by the Lands D by means of an STT or STW, the fire safety requirements have already been set out in the STT or STW concerned as a lease condition to be observed by the operator. Hence, the operator should bear the cost of fire safety installations and equipment. Nevertheless, the EPD has launched the EcoPark project in recent years to provide sites for local environmental industry to set up waste recovery yards. The sites are equipped with basic infrastructure, including fire service installations, and the Government charges the tenants at affordable rents to reduce their operating costs. We believe that such an arrangement will be helpful to the industry.
Ends/Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Issued at HKT 15:52
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