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With the approach of the Year of the Tiger, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has launched a major year-end clean-up campaign across the territory. The campaign, taking into account the features of each district and carried out in phases, is one of the major activities to bring about a cleaner environment.
"Cleaning up before the Lunar New Year is a tradition. It is also a timely reminder to keep one's home as well as the living environment which includes public areas clean," an FEHD spokesman said today (February 7).
Since late January, the department's district environmental hygiene offices have stepped up cleaning of public markets, cooked food centres and hawker bazaars in their districts, while intensive pest control measures have been carried out.
District staff has been carrying out cleaning work and pest control measures according to the particular needs of individual districts. For example, preventive measures are being carried out at old tenement buildings and other areas susceptible to mosquito breeding, and cleaning frequencies have increased at hygiene black spots, such as rear lanes.
The three-week long clean-up will end on February 11. "We have informed the District Councils of details of the major operations to solicit their support. To keep the environment clean, co-operation and concerted efforts from people both working and living in the district are indispensable," the spokesman said.
"To ensure cleanliness of public places, we will also strengthen enforcement action and adopt a stringent approach to offences under the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness Offences) Ordinance, including littering, spitting, illegal posting of bills or posters, improper feeding of pigeons and other feral birds, and dog fouling," he added.
Ends/Sunday, February 7, 2010
Issued at HKT 15:01
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