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A clean and hygienic environment cannot be maintained solely by Government efforts but also the commitment of every citizen. We need incessant efforts to keep the environment clean in order to fight epidemics.
The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, made the above remarks today (April 26) at the kick-off ceremony of the Territory-wide Cleansing Campaign in Tai Po, the first event organised under the theme of "Fresh Hong Kong" under the "Hong Kong: Our Home" Campaign.
"'Fresh Hong Kong' promotes low-carbon and low-waste lifestyle, appreciation of the city's natural heritage and healthy lifestyle," Mrs Lam said.
She said that the aim of the Territory-wide Cleansing Campaign, organised by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), was to enhance public awareness of the importance of keeping the environment clean and observing good personal hygiene through the participation of the Government principal officials and District Council members.
"The Government has all along attached great importance to maintaining environmental cleanliness and hygiene. About two billion dollars is allocated to waste collection and street cleansing services every year. In face of the imminent threats of the recent H7N9 avian influenza cases on the Mainland to Hong Kong, we have implemented a series of preventive and control measures, which included enhancing quarantine measures at border control points, stepping up the preventive and surveillance measures in public hospitals, increasing the inspections of live poultry stalls in markets, as well as stepping up cleansing work at public places where wild birds gather and at public markets, etc," Mrs Lam said.
To further enhance environmental hygiene of the community, she also noted that the FEHD had been consulting the District Councils to identify individual locations within each district, where the hygiene conditions could be further improved, for intensive cleansing.
She hoped that the three-day cleansing operations in 18 districts, starting from today, could make our home city cleaner, healthier and safer through the participation and hard work of the Government, the local communities and every citizen.
The "Hong Kong: Our Home" Campaign, launched on Tuesday (April 23), is a public participation event with 170 partner organisations so far. More than 480 events and activities will be staged by the end of the year.
Other officiating guests at today's ceremony include the Chairman of the Tai Po District Council, Mr Cheung Hok-ming; the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man; the Permanent Secretary for Food and Health (Food), Mrs Marion Lai; and the Director of Home Affairs, Mrs Pamela Tan.
After the ceremony, Mrs Lam together with the guests took part in the cleaning of the public area of the market before touring around Tai Po Hui Market and reminded live poultry stall tenants to take proper disease preventive measures. They also distributed cleansing packs to the public to raise their awareness of personal and environmental hygiene.
The Territory-wide Cleansing Campaign will continue tomorrow (April 27) in Kowloon region. The Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok; the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing; the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Raymond Tam; the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung; and the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor K C Chan, will take part in the cleansing operations in Wong Tai Sin, Kwun Tong, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City and Yau Tsim Mong respectively.
Cleansing activities will be conducted in Hong Kong Island and outlying islands region on Sunday (April 28). The Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang; the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So; the Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok; the Secretary for Education, Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim; and the Secretary for Justice, Mr Rimsky Yuen, SC, will participate in the cleansing work in Wan Chai, Southern District, Eastern District, Cheung Chau as well as Central and Western District.
Ends/Friday, April 26, 2013
Issued at HKT 20:32
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