A New “Clean Hong Kong Programme”

a) The Chief Executive, Mr. Tung Chee Hwa, announced in his Policy Address 2000 that a new “Clean Hong Kong Programme” would be launched at the end of the year. The objectives were to bring about visible and sustainable improvements to our environment through active cleansing operations, public education and publicity efforts, and to instill a sense of belonging and pride in the community for the clean environment. The three-year programme, commenced in December 2000, comprised four key elements-

• stepped-up cleansing and enforcement action against littering and dumping of waste;
• legislative changes to enhance the effectiveness of existing laws against littering and dumping of waste;
• joint efforts with District Councils and other local organisations to secure noticeable improvement on the ground; and
• public education and publicity programmes to enhance commitment to a cleaner Hong Kong.

b) The Steering Committee on Clean Hong Kong was set up to oversee the overall planning of the Clean Hong Kong Programme. Under the Steering Committee, there were the Publicity and Public Education Group, Operations Group and District Promotion Committee.

c) The Clean Hong Kong Office was set up in Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) to co-ordinate the four tasks mentioned above and provide support to the above Committees and Groups.

• cleansing of more than 1 300 locations of “grey area” where the cleansing responsibility has not been designated to a single department in the past;
• clearing of over 200 hygiene blackspots;
• improving 30 back lanes in Yau Tsim, Wan Chai and Tsuen Wan;
• providing full-time toilet attendants to public toilets with a daily usage of over 300;
• providing toilet paper in all public toilets;
• removing illegal bills and posters in public places; and
• enhanced evening street cleansing.

• provision of static cleaners at specific spots of busy streets for cleansing purpose;
• removal of illegal bills and posters;
• provision of evening/midnight street washing/cleansing services;
• provision of roving cleansing teams for clearing hygiene blackspots and tackling environmental hygiene problems;
• provision of attendants in public toilets with daily usage of 200 or more;
• removal of gum stains on pavements;
• provision of attendants in public toilets inside markets;
• clearing up footbridges, subways and public transport interchange; and
• stepping up the Clean Hong Kong cleansing operations, e.g. limewashing of back lanes.

j) Following the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in March 2003, there had been heightening public awareness in keeping a clean and healthy environment. In this connection, FEHD further created over 4 000 temporary jobs. The enhanced services were introduced gradually from May 2003 for six to twelve months to reinforce the efforts in cleaning up Hong Kong. The services included-

• enhanced cleansing and washing of public places and hygiene blackspots;
• clearing and cleansing of private lanes and common parts of old tenement buildings;
• minor repair works, including limewashing;
• intensified rodent and pest control work, including anti-mosquito measures;
• more frequent cleansing of markets, cooked food centres and hawker sites; and
• enhanced collection of refuse at on-street dumping spots.

Fixed Penalty System

k) The Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness Offences) Ordinance was passed by the Legislative Council on 12 July 2001. It was announced in the gazette that the fixed penalty system would be officially implemented when the relevant ordinance came into effect on 27 May 2002. The system covers common public cleanliness offences such as littering, spitting, display of bills or posters without permission and fouling of street by dog faeces. Anyone who committed the above public cleanliness offences would be liable for a fixed penalty of $600. FEHD and other departments concerned were responsible for training front-line staff, developing the computer system and launching the publicity programmes.

l) The main purpose of the Ordinance is to achieve a deterrent effect for the four types of offences mentioned above through a simplified penalty system. Under the fixed penalty system, the offenders are not required to appear in court. Penalties can thus be imposed speedily and effectively in order to combat such offences. Law enforcement, however, is only the last resort. It is more important to raise public awareness in keeping Hong Kong clean and to secure public cooperation in maintaining a cleaner environment.

m) Designated public officers from seven government departments, namely, FEHD; Leisure and Cultural Services Department; Housing Department; Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department; Environmental Protection Department; Marine Department and Hong Kong Police Force, have been authorised to enforce the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness Offences) Ordinance. A launching ceremony of the fixed penalty system was held on 26 May 2002.

n) The outbreak of SARS in March 2003 aroused increasing public concern over environmental hygiene. Spitting and littering are not just an environmental nuisance but also a hazard to public health. Adopting a “zero tolerance” approach in law enforcement, the Government raised the fixed penalty for public cleanliness offences from $600 to
$1 500 on 26 June.

Publicity and Educational Efforts

o) We disseminated the message of environmental hygiene to different sectors of the community through a wide range of channels, including-

• TV Announcements of Public Interest;
• radio Announcements of Public Interest;
• posters and banners;
• newspaper supplements and reports;
• cleanliness competitions;
• roving exhibitions; and
• multi-lingual pamphlets.

p) In the light of technological development, we also introduced new communication channels, e.g. a Home page on the Internet, advertisements on public transports and APIs on videowalls at major shopping arcades.

q) FEHD and the then Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB) organised various programmes and activities to promote the Clean Hong Kong message to students at all grades. The activities included-

• incorporating the message on environmental hygiene into the primary and secondary school curricula;
• organising school talks on health education;
• arranging visits to FEHD’s Health Education Exhibition and Resource Centre at the Kowloon Park;
• developing a home page on improving the school and neighborhood environment; and
• organising beach cleaning programmes, e.g. “Adopt-A-Beach Scheme” and other extra-curricular activities.

District Involvement and the Clean Hong Kong Funding Scheme

r) Chaired by the Vice-chairmen of the respective District Councils, the District Clean Hong Kong Committees were set up in 18 districts to promote and disseminate the Clean Hong Kong message. The aim was to drive home to the public the message of maintaining environmental hygiene.

s) Launched by FEHD, the Clean Hong Kong Funding Scheme aimed to encourage various organisations in the community to hold Clean Hong Kong promotional activities and organise community involvement programmes for public participation. Through the District Councils Subsidy Scheme, we also granted subsidies for activities organised by the District Clean Hong Kong Committees at the district level.

t) In 2001-03, over 1 600 voluntary Clean Hong Kong Ambassadors were recruited through the District Offices. In the swearing-in ceremony held in 2001, they pledged that they would undertake to promote the Clean Hong Kong message at the district level. Meanwhile, the District Offices also recruited volunteers to form District Hygiene Squads to monitor the hygiene conditions of environmental blackspots.

Team Clean

u) The outbreak of SARS in March 2003 aroused great concern over environmental hygiene among the public. In May, the inter-departmental Team Clean was set up to work out both short-term and long-term measures on improving environmental hygiene. The aim was to make Hong Kong a modern and healthy world city. The Team Clean disseminated the message of “Live Hygiene Live Health” through different channels. The departments concerned worked together to implement the proposals and joined hands with the public to make Hong Kong a truly clean and hygienic city.