************************************************************
Following is a question by the Hon Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, at the Legislative Council meeting today (May 12):
Question:
It has been reported that fly-tipping of construction waste occurred on an agricultural land of over 10,000 square feet at Ho Sheung Heung in Sheung Shui, and the authorities have ordered the persons concerned to reinstate the agricultural land within two months; yet, more than six months have passed since the occurrence of the incident, and the problem remains unsolved. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) what specific measures it has to make the persons concerned to expeditiously discharge their duties to reinstate the agricultural land; and
(b) given that the authorities plan to amend the Waste Disposal Ordinance (Cap. 354) to establish a notification mechanism whereby landowners are required to inform the relevant government departments before depositing abandoned construction and demolition materials on their land, whether the authorities have set a timetable for introducing legislative amendments, and whether they have explored other effective measures (such as raising the penalties on offenders so as to enhance the deterrent effect) to prevent similar incidents from continuing to occur?
Reply:
President,
(a) Subsequent to the incident of fly-tipping of construction and demolition (C&D) wastes on agricultural land in Ho Sheung Heung, the relevant departments have followed up on the case in accordance with the power conferred by relevant legislations. Actions taken included investigation and prosecution against the offenders. The Planning Department issued Enforcement Notices and Reinstatement Notices under the Town Planning Ordinance (Cap 131) in July and August 2009, requiring the persons concerned to discontinue the unauthorised development and to remove all the fill materials deposited on the site and grass the land. The Secretary for Development (SDEV) subsequently received eight applications for review of the above Reinstatement Notices. The SDEV has confirmed six of the notices issued by the Authority. The persons concerned must reinstate the land in accordance with the requirements in the Reinstatement Notices. The remaining two applications for review are being processed.
As for the six confirmed cases, the Planning Department has met with the persons concerned and provided them with clear guidelines. The relevant department will closely monitor the situation. As failure to observe a statutory notice by the specified date is an offence, person served with such notices usually will follow the requirements;
(b) The Administration has adopted a multi-pronged approach to combat fly-tipping of C&D wastes and land filling activities through various measures :
(i) proposing the amendment to the Waste Disposal Ordinance (Cap 354) (WDO) to tighten control over the disposal of abandoned C&D materials on private land. The Administration aims to enhance the enforcement effectiveness of section 16A of the WDO to curb the unauthorised disposal of abandoned C&D materials on private land. Under the proposed amendment, any person who intends to carry out depositing activity on private land will be required to obtain the prior written permission of the landowner, and the depositor must carry such written permission during the depositing activity. Under the proposal, the person commits an offence if he fails to produce the valid written permission for inspection on request by enforcement officers. The Administration also proposes to put in place a notification mechanism to serve as the platform which notifies relevant departments of the intended depositing activities. The relevant departments may advise the persons concerned and explain the requirements under the relevant legislations to prevent contravention of existing legislations;
(ii) improving the complaint handling procedures to deal with cases involving active and on-going depositing activities of C&D materials. A database containing information of those land filling cases and a list of fly-tipping black-spots have been compiled. The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) and the relevant departments also meet on a regular and as-needed basis to monitor the overall situation of illegal fly-tipping and land filling, with a view to strengthening cooperation between the relevant bureaus and departments;
(iii) developing three sets of comprehensive guides for rural landowners, construction waste transporters and property developers/contractors/managers, to raise the awareness of fly-tipping and illegal land filling activities, including the penalty for violating planning restriction and illegal land filling; and
(iv) conducting a trial scheme on remote monitoring by the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) at fly-tipping black spots. The Administration has completed the installation of CCTV at Tai Po Road and Siu Lang Shui in January 2010. Both systems have come into operation. The Administration will evaluate the effectiveness of the two systems in collecting evidence for prosecution against fly-tipping. The result will help the Administration consider the feasibility of extending the CCTV installations to other fly-tipping black-spots.
The Administration has consulted Advisory Council on the Environment, Panel on Environmental Affairs of the Legislative Council, Heung Yee Kuk and most of the New Territories District Councils on the proposed amendment to the WDO. It has also uploaded the details of the proposal onto the EPD website for the public to provide comments. The Administration will decide whether refinement to the proposed amendment is needed after collecting the views and drawing up an amendment schedule.
The Administration recognises that the penalties to the offenders should carry sufficient deterrence. Currently, under sections 20, 21 and 23 of the Town Planning Ordinance, any person undertaking or continuing unauthorised development or any person not acting in accordance with the statutory notices issued by the Planning Authority in connection to an unauthorised development, commits an offence. He is liable to a fine of $500,000 in the case of a first conviction and of $1,000,000 in the case of a second or subsequent conviction. Besides, according to the WDO, any person commits an offence under section 16A (i.e. illegal depositing of waste) will be liable to a maximum fine of $200,000 and to imprisonment for six months for the first offence, and a maximum fine of $500,000 and to imprisonment for six months for a second or subsequent offence. In case the penalty imposed by the court is considered too lenient or insufficient to reflect the severity of the offence, the Administration will, where the circumstances of an individual case justify and subject to the availability of evidence, apply via the Department of Justice for a court review of the sentence.
Ends/Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Issued at HKT 14:52
NNNN
