Chapter 10: Food and Environmental Hygiene

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) was set up on January 1, 2000 to serve the people of Hong Kong in the area of food safety and environmental hygiene.

The FEHD has been providing effective and efficient public cleansing services, such as manual street-sweeping services, waste collection, provision of public bathhouses and enhancement of public toilets.

The department provides manual street-sweeping services in all urban and rural areas. The frequency of sweeping varies from once to eight times daily, depending on the need in each area.

Waste is collected daily throughout the year, except on Lunar New Year's Day when only major refuse collection points are opened for collection of domestic waste and junk. The department has 387 refuse collection vehicles for collecting domestic waste and junk. During the year, about 5 940 tonnes of household waste were collected every day.

In older districts, the FEHD provides 37 public bathhouses — 11 on Hong Kong Island, 15 in Kowloon and 11 in the New Territories and outlying islands.

To meet growing public expectations, various measures have been taken by the department to improve public toilet facilities, including stationing cleaners in toilets with high usage rates. Under a regular refurbishment programme, 17 public toilets were renovated in 2001.

In an effort to improve environmental hygiene, the Government launched a new Clean Hong Kong programme in December 2000. Since then, the FEHD and other departments concerned have been carrying out a series of enhanced cleansing operations. These services, as well as public education and publicity measures, aim to bring about visible and sustainable improvements.

District Councils and community groups have been invited to participate in Clean Hong Kong activities to signify a renewed public commitment to a cleaner Hong Kong. District Clean Hong Kong Committees have been set up in all the 18 districts under the respective District Councils, and over 1 200 voluntary helpers have been appointed Clean Hong Kong Ambassadors to help disseminate the message.

Accumulation of refuse, choked or defective plumbing systems, water dripping from air-conditioners, and water seepage inside private premises are common sanitary nuisances. To tackle these problems, the FEHD issues statutory notices that require abatement of the nuisance. Prosecution will be initiated against those who fail to comply with the notice within a specified period. During the year, the department issued 1 414 statutory notices and 49 prosecutions were initiated.

Prevention of vector-borne and rodent-borne diseases is an important task of the FEHD. The methodology used in pest control is continuously reviewed to enhance effectiveness and efficacy. Anti-rodent and anti-mosquito campaigns were mounted throughout Hong Kong during the year.

As land is a limited resource in the HKSAR, it is the Government's policy to encourage cremation of the dead. Normally, human remains buried in public cemeteries have to be exhumed after six years and either cremated or reinterred in an urn cemetery.

The FEHD operates six government crematoria and 11 public cemeteries, and oversees the management of 28 private cemeteries.