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| Speech by the Hon Tommy Cheung Yu-yan, JP Motion Debate on Improving the notification mechanism for contamination of potable water supply to Hong Kong and enhancing co-ordination in the supply of potable water to Hong Kong | |||
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| Tommy Cheung: Madam President, in addition to the potable water collected by local reservoirs, nearly 80% of Hong Kong's potable water resources are Dongjiang water purchased from Guangdong Province. Although Dongjiang water has not been affected by the salt tides occurring in certain parts of Guangdong Province due to the backward flow of seawater, the Liberal Party considers that, with the agreement of the two parties, there is still room for further improvement in water quality and prices. Actually, Guangdong Province has indeed made a lot of efforts in improving the quality of Dongjiang water. For instance, the intake point of Dongjiang water was already moved upward in 2003 to Taiyuen in Dongguan and the construction of a closed aqueduct was completed in mid-2003 in the hope of preventing the quality of potable water supplied to Hong Kong from being contaminated. However, half of the RMB 4.7 billion yuan spent on the construction of the closed aqueduct was an interest-free loan offered by Hong Kong. Now that money has been spent, but we can still not feel at ease about the water quality problem. In March 2004, for instance, a green group called Greenpeace collected samples from Dongjiang water near Taiyuan for testing. The results show that the contents of coliform organism, ammoniacal nitrogen and toxic heavy metals have exceeded the standards by 3 200, 10 and 280 times respectively. Confronted with the water quality problem, the Water Supplies Department has merely been stating equivocally that the quality of Dongjiang water consumed in Hong Kong meets the requirement and is suitable for public consumption after treatment — I must stress that I am referring to the treated Dongjiang water. An investigation in March last year even revealed that the carcinogenic heavy metal contents in samples of Lycium Chinese and lettuce exceeded national hygiene standards. This shows that the problem of contamination of Dongjiang water still remains. The rapid development in the Pearl River Delta Region in recent years is not only the main reason for the deterioration in the quality of Dongjiang water, but also a cause of environmental pollution. It is even more alarming that two unexpected, horrifying incidents of massive contamination occurred on the Mainland in recent years. For instance, Songhuajiang was badly contaminated as a result of a serious explosion of a petrochemical plant in Jilin late last year. In addition to suspensions of water supply in such places as Harbin, some border areas of Russia adjacent to China were affected too. Later, another serious incident of river contamination also occurred during the inspection and maintenance of the sewage installation of a steel mill in Shaoguan. Not only was the water supply to three cities, namely Shaoguan, Qingyuan and Yingde, was threatened, more than 100 000 people were affected as well. Water supply to some suburbs was even suspended. Although the abovementioned major incidents have not affected Dongjiang, they came a wake-up call for us to immediately perfect the existing emergency notification mechanism. This is because though a notification mechanism is already in place, it has not been specified under what circumstances prompt notification should be made. Neither has a time limit for notification been imposed. Therefore, we call on the Guangdong side, when unexpected major incidents of water contamination occur and the supply of Dongjiang water is affected, to notify the Hong Kong side promptly so that contingency measures can be taken early. In the medium and long term, it is necessary for us to strengthen co-operation with the Guangdong authorities to enhance environmental management and improvement of water quality. It is believed that, if Hong Kong can have cleaner potable water, there will be no need to use so many chemical substances to neutralize the pollutants in potable water, and this will in turn reduce the risk of harm being caused to human bodies. Secondly, the Liberal Party hopes that the Government can strive to fight for Hong Kong people a water charge that is lower than the existing rate of $3.085 per cu m. This is because in Shenzhen, 1 cu m of potable water charges only RMB 0.78 yuan, approximately one fourth of the charge paid by the Hong Kong side. If the cost of purchasing water can be lowered, we can then request the Government to lower the water charges. In doing so, not only all users can be benefited, the burden of the catering, manufacturing and laundry industries can be lessened as well. Furthermore, we hope that the supply quantity can be adjusted more flexibly to bring it closer to Hong Kong's actual demand for potable water. For instance, the supply quantity can be reviewed on a monthly basis to prevent large quantities of potable water from being discharged into the sea because of the rigid enforcement of the water supply agreement. We therefore support the idea that Guangdong and Hong Kong should negotiate a new, flexible arrangement in discussing and formulating the new water supply agreement, particularly because Guangdong Province will experience tight water supply because of the dry weather. In short, it is our hope that we can enjoy quality and inexpensive Dongjiang water as early as possible and stop paying exorbitant water charges. Madam President, I so submit. | |||
| 發佈日期: Wednesday February 08, 2006 HKT |
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