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A two-year Clean Buildings Campaign will begin on Tuesday (July 3) in Yau Tsim Mong (YTM) District to improve the environmental hygiene of the district.

Four contract-out cleansing teams will each visit one area in the district each week to promote the importance of clean living environment among residents of the selected buildings.

The cleansing teams will help needy residents, such as the elderly and the disabled, to remove discarded articles and rubbish accumulated in common areas of their buildings, including roofs, staircases, canopies and rear lanes.

They will also assist staff of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) in removing handbills on external walls of the buildings and nearby streets, and spruce up the district's facilities, such as sitting-out-areas, planters and District Council notice boards.

Meanwhile, FEHD will set up temporary refuse collection points at the target areas to facilitate the residents' disposal of their unwanted household goods. FEHD staff will also tie in with the working schedule of the cleansing teams to clean the streets and rear lanes within the areas.

The Clean Buildings Campaign is jointly organised by the YTM District Office and FEHD, with the assistance and support of the YTM District Council and five Area Committees.

"It is hoped that the campaign would not only improve the environmental hygiene of the private buildings and streets in the district, but also ultimately change some local residents' bad habits and attitudes towards waste disposal," the YTM District Officer, Mr Augustine Choi, said.

Apart from supporting the territory-wide Clean Hong Kong Campaign launched last December, the current exercise is also organised to create job opportunities for the unemployed and the underprivileged, he added.

The contractors of the campaign cleansing teams are all voluntary agencies. They include Salvation Army, Mental Health Association of Hong Kong, Mong Kok Kai Fong Association Limited Chan Hing Social Service Centre, and Po Leung Kuk (Shek Kip Mei Workshop).

The cleansing teams are made up of disabled persons who have completed induction training and proven working ability, young people and new arrivals. They will be guided or counselled by social workers.

Enquiries of the campaign can be made on telephone no. 2399 2177.

End/Saturday, June 30, 2001

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