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Facilities in the Sheung Shui Slaugherhouse are designed to meet stringent hygiene and environmental requirements, a Government spokesman said today (Thursday).

"This modern and state-of-the-art slaughterhouse is scheduled to be fully operational by mid-2000, following a four-phase commissioning period starting on August 22 (Sunday), the spokesman said.

"The $1,800 million project was undertaken by the Architectural Services Department in February 1997 and took only 28 months to complete," he said.

It will replace the existing abattoirs in densely populated Cheung Sha Wan, Kennedy Town and Yuen Long where the associated environmental problems are of concern to residents.

The highly mechanised slaughterhouse, covering a site area of about 58,000 square metres, is capable of handling 5,000 pigs, 400 cattle and 300 goats a day.

"Apart from fully mechanised slaughtering lines, four for pigs and one for cattle, there are also automatic machines for stunning, pig dehairing, cattle dehiding and carcass splitting," the spokesman explained.

"To ensure a hygienic environment, the slaughtering hall is divided into 'dirty' and 'clean' areas. Pigs are stunned, bled, dehaired and washed in the 'dirty' area, and are eviscerated in the 'clean' area where meat inspection takes place afterwards. Workers from the 'dirty' area are not allowed to enter the 'clean' area," he continued.

The vertical scalding of pigs, introduced for the first time in Hong Kong, means that the carcasses will not be soaked in dirty water. The off-loading of carcasses is mechanised to minimise the handling of the meat by hand, he noted.

Inside the clean area, red (hearts and lungs) and green (mainly intestines) ovals are separated to avoid cross contamination.

The temperature of the slaughter hall will constantly be maintained at 26¢J and humidity at 70 per cent to ensure that the meat will not go stale easily.

Operators in the slaughterhouse are well trained. They are required to observe strict hygiene rules. Knives are sterilised in 82¢J water every time after cutting a pig or cattle. Sterilisation basins for all cutting and sawing tools are provided. In addition, workers have to put on sterilised aprons before entering the slaughter hall and to wash the aprons after use.

Indoor air quality of the slaughter hall and meat despatch area is controlled to prevent outside air from entering these areas. Vehicles are fitted with enclosed storage compartments, with temperature set not to exceed 20¢J to ensure freshness of the meat.

The meat despatch area, which is also mechanised, has specially designed parking bays which can accommodate 50 vehicles at a time. About 1,200 carcasses can be handled in an hour. Conveying belts are 2.4 metres above ground to prevent dirty water on the floor from splashing onto the carcasses.

As the licensing authority for slaughterhouses in the New Territories, the Regional Services Department will station a number of health inspectors to conduct meat inspection on the premises and to ensure that the lastest hygiene standards are enforced in the slaughterhouse by the operator.

"Various measures have been taken to ensure that the slaughterhouse is environmentally friendly and energy efficient," the spokesman said.

"Noise control measures are adopted to meet statutory requirements. These include the provision of specially designed acoustic louvres for lairages, acoustic enclosures and silencers for various building service equipment and double glazed glass panels for the slaughter hall. Perimeter noise barriers walls of two to four metres high are erected to reduce noise generated from loading and unloading of trains and lorries. Off-site noise barriers are also provided at Po Wan Road to reduce road traffic noise impact to the Sheung Shui Village," he said.

The Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse is served by a purpose-built rail line from Lo Wu to deliver livestock from the Mainland. The journey from Lo Wu takes only three minutes and the rail line is well away from existing and proposed residential developments.

Odour sensitive receivers living close to the slaughterhouse who may likely be affected have been identified. Odour emission computer modelling has been carried out to ensure that the mitigation measures adopted can reduce the odour level at the sensitive receivers and comply with environmental guidelines.

An underground waste water treatment plant has been built to treat waste water generated from the slaughtering operation, reducing its concentration by 90 per cent to achieve a standard similar to domestic discharge before it is further treated in the Shek Wu Hui Sewage Treatment Plant.

For energy conservation, a solar system with more than 450 solar panels has been installed to supplement the high demand for hot water year round. Apart from this, there are also other energy efficient designs and measures, such as the use of heat pump systems utilising heat generated from the air-conditioning plant to heat up water in the hot water system, the spokesman explained.

End/Thursday, August 19, 1999

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