**********************************************
The Government has, since the publication of Team Clean's Interim report, stepped up its enforcement actions against spitting and littering offences in public areas, a spokesman for Team Clean said today (June 6).
The spokesman said that a total of 661 fixed penalty notices or summonses were issued for littering during the week May 29 to June 4, representing a daily average of 94.4 notices/summonses. This compared with a daily average of 56.8 recorded for the period May 1 to 28.
During the week from May 29 to June 4, a total of 113 notices/summonses were issued for spitting offences, averaging 16.1 cases a day. For the period from May 1 to 28, an average of 6.4 cases were recorded a day.
The spokesman said that since the publication of Team Clean's Interim Report, there had been increasing public support for the Government's enforcement action.
"We are determined to stamp out such behaviours in our society and will continue to adopt a zero tolerance approach in law enforcement," he added.
Meanwhile, work has started for the urgent clean up of the 85 priority district hygiene spots including rear lanes, private streets and other eyesores identified by the Clean Hong Kong District Promotion Committees.
In addition, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department had completed cleansing of the common areas of 68 priority private buildings. A further 800 such buildings will be identified and cleaned up.
Since early May, the Buildings Department has started a programme to inspect all external drainage pipes in all private residential buildings. Up to June 4, a total of 11,400 buildings had been inspected by either the Buildings Department or the Owners Corporations of the buildings concerned.
Of this total, 1,376 were found to contain drainage defects. A total of 848 advisory letters were issued to urge owners to carry out repair works.
The Buildings Department will follow up on these cases and Repair Orders will be issued if the owners fail to comply with the advisory letters.
For internal pipes in public housing units, 100 Housing Department "Estate Drainage ambassadors" have started their inspection.
A total of 15,657 units in 98 blocks of 32 estates have been inspected. Of these, 7,131 units were found to have defects. Defects in 3,195 of the units have been made good/repaired.
"All these show that the government is moving ahead full steam to implement the measures contained in the Team Clean report," the spokesman said.
"And, there will be no let up in our efforts to clean up Hong Kong," he added.
End/Friday, June 6, 2003
NNNN
