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The Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre and Tso Kung Tam Outdoor Recreation Centre will reopen for holiday campers from tomorrow (May 16).
The camps are two of the four holiday camps used by the Government as isolation centres for families affected by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) since April 1 this year.
During the temporary closure, the Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre was used to provide accommodation for affected families; the Tso Kung Tam Outdoor Recreation Centre was reserved, but not actually used, for this purpose.
Announcing the reopening of the camps, a spokesman for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department said normal camping services would be provided to the public from tomorrow and those who had made bookings for May 16 onwards at the two camps would be received as scheduled.
To ensure a clean environment, the department has carried out thorough cleaning and disinfection of all indoor and outdoor facilities at the two camps in strict accordance with the guidelines issued by the Department of Health.
All dormitories and hostel rooms are cleaned and disinfected at least once daily, and four times a day for toilet and bathing facilities as well as common areas.
"We have also issued guidelines to all the cleaning contractors in respective holiday camps to intensify cleansing and disinfection under close supervision of our camp staff," the spokesman said.
New mattresses, bed sheets, quilts, blankets, pillows and pillowcases have been bought for Sai Kung Outdoor Recreation Centre to replace the used ones.
Bed sheets and pillowcases that need changing daily will be labelled "Cleaned"after being laundered. And even the toilet bowls, once sanitised, will also be labelled "Disinfected".
Liquid soaps and hand dryers for cleaning and drying hands will be provided.
Notices have also been put up at the camp sites to appeal to the campers to observe personal hygiene and keep the camping environment clean.
"We will strive to take every step to maintain cleanliness at the holiday camps to provide a safe and comfortable leisure environment for the enjoyment of the campers," the spokesman said.
The two holiday camps are now open for bookings for the remained camp places for May, June and July. Interested parties can go to the department's Leisure Link outlets in the district leisure offices and sports centres in 18 districts. Commencing May 20, they can book the remained places for August as well. In addition, they are welcome to send in applications now to reserve camp places for September.
The spokesman said the Lei Yue Mun Park Holiday Village was expected to reopen on June 1 and there would be an announcement in the future as to when the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village - now still reserved as an isolation centre - would reopen.
End/Thursday, May 15, 2003
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