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Following is a question by Hon Lee Wing-tat and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, in the Legislative Council today (October 28):
Question:
It has been reported that suspected cases of fly-tipping of waste and unauthorised developments were uncovered in recent months in the rural areas of the New Territories, including Ho Sheung Heung, Luk Keng and Ma Shi Chau. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the progress of the follow-up actions currently taken by the government departments concerned to tackle cases of fly-tipping of waste and unauthorised developments in the aforesaid three areas, including whether those departments have required the land owners or persons involved in the cases to clear and reinstate the lands, conducted investigations to ascertain if there were cases of contravention of the law, and taken legal action against the offenders in respect of their civil or criminal liabilities;
(b) whether under the existing policy, the staff of the relevant government departments have the authority to require the persons involved in the cases to stop fly-tipping immediately when such situations are discovered during inspections; if they have such authority, of the enforcement actions taken in the past two years;
(c) given that the waste in some of the aforesaid cases come from government projects, whether the government departments concerned have investigated such cases and imposed penalties on the offending contractors and individuals; and whether it had found, in the past two years, contractors of other government projects involved in similar fly-tipping activities; if so, of the relevant figures and details of the follow-up actions; and
(d) given that the trend in recent years shows that most of the fly-tipping cases involve wetlands of natural conservation or ecological value or lots which were originally zoned as Closed Areas, whether the Government has conducted studies to find out if those fly-tipping activities are related to individuals intending to ruin the ecology of those lands with such activities and then filing applications to change the uses of the lands afterwards so as to generate profits?
Reply:
President,
The Government has been very concerned about fly-tipping and unauthorised development activities, and has strengthened the relevant regulatory control and inter-departmental co-ordination mechanism. The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has developed jointly with other departments a database on locations of private land that has become dumping site for inert construction and demolition (C&D) materials and a list of black spots involving fly-tipping of C&D materials. The concerned government departments hold regular and also when needed ad hoc meetings to monitor illegal land filling and fly-tipping activities in all districts throughout the territory and also carry out joint site inspections and enforcement actions. The follow-up actions taken by the government departments concerned to deal with the above cases are as follows:
(a)
Ho Sheung Heung
In July 2009, upon receiving complaints about dump trucks conducting land filling activities on agricultural land in Ho Sheung Heung, the EPD immediately carried out joint site inspections and enforcement actions with the concerned government departments and convened a number of inter-departmental meetings to enhance information sharing and coordination among the government departments. The EPD also deployed staff to investigate and contact the land owners concerned to ascertain whether the land owners had given consent to such activities. Under the Waste Disposal Ordinance (WDO), a person commits an offence if he deposits waste on any government or private land without the consent of the owner or lawful occupier of the land. The EPD has been collecting evidence and in October 2009 issued two summonses to two dump truck drivers suspected of contravening the WDO. The cases would be heard by the court in November 2009. The EPD is still investigating other suspects and would take further enforcement action if sufficient evidence can be found. The EPD will also continue to co-ordinate with other relevant government departments to follow up on the investigation.
As for the unauthorised developments involving dumping activities in Ho Sheung Heung, the Planning Authority issued between July and August 2009 Enforcement Notices and Reinstatement Notices to the land owners of the relevant lots and a person responsible for the unauthorised developments on one of the lots, requiring them to discontinue the land and pond filling activities, to remove all the fill materials deposited there and to plant grass on the land respectively. The Planning Department (Plan D) is now processing applications for Review of the above Reinstatement Notices under Section 24 of the Town Planning Ordinance (TPO).
The Planning Authority had issued a summons to the above-mentioned responsible person for undertaking the unauthorised land filling on one of the lots in mid-September. The case would be heard by the court in November 2009.
According to the Lands Department (Lands D), the dumping site in Ho Sheung Heung is an old scheduled private agricultural lot under a block lease. As there is no provision in the block lease restricting land filling activities, the Lands D is not in a position to take any lease enforcement action.
On July 12, 2009, the police arrested a man upon receiving a report on criminal damage relating to the fly-tipping incident in Ho Sheung Heung. The police is awaiting legal advice from the Department of Justice (DoJ) on the case.
Luk Keng
Upon receiving a complaint in September 2009, the EPD immediately deployed staff to conduct an investigation. The EPD staff warned the relevant parties about the law requirements and carried out follow-up investigation. Land filling activities have ceased at the site. The EPD will continue to follow up jointly with other relevant government departments on the case. Action will be taken if there is sufficient evidence proving contravention of any environmental protection legislation.
The Planning Authority issued in September 2009 an Enforcement Notice to the land owners of the lots with filling activities and unauthorised developments in Luk Keng, requiring them to discontinue the land filling activities. Reinstatement Notices were also issued to the parties concerned in October 2009, requiring them to remove the fill materials deposited there. In addition, as part of the subject site also involves a slope maintained by the Highways Department (HyD), the HyD would take action to reinstate the slope, if the persons involved cannot clear and reinstate the site upon the expiry of the Reinstatement Notice issued by the Planning Authority.
The private land involved in the Luk Keng case is an old scheduled private agricultural lot under a block lease. Similarly, as there is no provision in the block lease restricting land filling activities, the Lands D is not in a position to take any lease enforcement action.
Ma Shi Chau
Upon receiving a complaint referred by the District Lands Office, Tai Po in February 2009, the EPD conducted a site investigation at the Ma Shi Chau site. Follow-up inspection by EPD staff in July and September 2009 revealed no contravention of the WDO.
Since the site is located outside the Development Permission Area, the enforcement provisions of the TPO are not applicable. Therefore, the Plan D is not in a position to take enforcement action.
The Lands D has issued a warning letter to the land owner, requiring him to demolish on his own the structures that are in breach of the lease terms. In response, the land owner has demolished part of the unauthorised structures. The Lands D has reported the situation to the DoJ for their consideration and advice on further action against the land owner.
The above three sites involving suspected fly-tipping activities and unauthorised developments are located outside country parks or special areas, and there is no contravention of the Country Parks Ordinance (Cap. 208). Nevertheless, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department will step up patrol in the Ma Shi Chau Special Area and Pat Sin Leng Country Park to prevent these areas from adverse impact.
(b) Under the TPO, the Planning Authority may, in a notice (including a Stop Notice and an Enforcement Notice) served on one or more of a land owner, an occupier or a person who is responsible for the relevant matters, require the discontinuance of the land/pond filling which constitutes an unauthorised development immediately or within a specified period. Before the issue of any notice, the Planning Authority must collect sufficient information and evidence to ascertain the identity of the above persons and that the operation is an unauthorised development under the TPO.
Moreover, the TPO authorises direct prosecution of persons who undertake or continue an unauthorised development. Similarly, the Planning Authority has to collect evidence on the identity of the persons who undertake or continue the unauthorised development and evidence that the operation is an unauthorised development.
Over the past two years (that is, from October 2007 to September 2009), the Planning Authority issued 903 statutory notices, including 870 Enforcement Notices and 33 Stop Notices, against 128 cases of unauthorised developments involving land/pond filling. During the same period, the Planning Authority also instituted prosecution against two persons who undertook or continued unauthorised developments involving land/pond filling.
Under the WDO, a person commits an offence if he deposits or causes or permits to be deposited waste in any place except with lawful authority or excuse, or except with the permission of any owner or lawful occupier of the place. In addition, the offence of unlawful depositing of waste under the WDO has been incorporated into Schedule 1 of the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness Offences) Ordinance. For cases involving unlawful depositing of small quantities of construction waste, EPD enforcement staff will issue Fixed Penalty Notices of $1,500 to the offenders.
Over the past three years (that is, from 2007 to September 2009), the EPD successfully prosecuted 54 persons for depositing construction waste under the WDO and in addition issued Fixed Penalty Notices to 80 offenders.
Although the legislation does not empower enforcement officers of various departments to stop fly-tipping activities on the spot, they will warn the persons involved that fly-tipping may violate the relevant legislation and record their particulars for follow-up investigation. This will have a deterrent effect as drivers usually will stop fly-tipping when they know that they may be breaking the law.
While concerned government departments enforce legislation against fly-tipping under their jurisdiction, upon receiving a report on fly-tipping, police officers arriving at the scene may have to stop the act to investigate whether it involves any criminal offence or breach of the peace. The police will assist other government departments in enforcing the relevant legislation as and when necessary.
(c) The Ho Sheung Heung incident may have involved the Architectural Services Department's (ASD) construction site at Wo Hop Shek. After investigation, the contractor does not rule out the possibility that the persons involved removed C & D materials from the site without his permission. The contractor has reported the case to the police. The case is under investigation.
The ASD finds it unacceptable that the contractor did not observe strictly the contractual requirements of hiring suitable staff to guard the site exit. The ASD issued a verbal and a written warning to the contractor immediately, requiring him to strengthen site management with effective measures. Apart from monitoring closely the contractor's performance, the ASD will reflect the incident in the report on the contractor's performance, which will be used as reference in evaluating the contractor's bids for government projects in future. The ASD will also consider further suitable control after the police investigation is completed.
According to the records of the Works Branch of the Development Bureau, no other public works were involved in fly-tipping of C & D materials over the past two years (that is, from October 2007 to September 2009).
(d) In Development Permission Areas, unauthorised land filling activities within "Conservation Area" ("CA") zone will be subject to planning enforcement and prosecution action. According to our observation, there is not a trend in which the individuals undertake unauthorised development or environmental degradation within the "CA" zone prior to submitting planning application to the Town Planning Board (the Board) for change in land use. Moreover, under normal circumstances, the Board would not give favourable consideration to applications involving unauthorised land filling activities.
Ends/Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Issued at HKT 14:45
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