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Beach
Water Quality Report 2002
Chapter Eight
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| Refuse
at Beaches |
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8.1
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Beaches
with a lot of floating
refuse certainly create
nuisance to swimmers |
The public often relates
the cleanliness of a beach
to the visual impact,
i.e. occurrence of floating
refuse, rather than its
water quality. Although
the water quality of a
beach is suitable for
swimming, floating refuse
certainly creates nuisance
to swimmers.
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| 8.2 |
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Floating
refuse can originate
from human activities
on land |
Floating refuse can originate
from sea due to marine accidents
such as shipwrecks, or from
land due to human activities.
It can enter the gazetted
beach area as a result of
tidal movement and waves.
To tackle the floating refuse
problem, both the Marine
Department and LCSD have
played active roles in collecting
floating refuse at sea and
in the gazetted beach areas
respectively.
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| 8.3 |
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Cleansing
staff collects floating
refuse landed on
the beach
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The LCSD, which is the beach
management authority, is
responsible for collection
of refuse at all gazetted
beaches. Within the beach
area, floating refuse is
collected by LCSD staff
with the aid of a catamaran
or "seacat", while
the contract cleansing staff
of LCSD would collect floating
refuse landed on the beach
regularly. The amount of
floating refuse collected
by LCSD at various gazetted
beaches in 2002 is shown
in Appendix 4.
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| 8.4 |
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Environmental
protection campaigns
at beaches
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The amount of floating refuse
collected at the beaches
varied from year to year
depending on wind direction,
current and the frequency
of occurrence of storms.
Since human activities on
land also contribute to
the floating refuse problem,
enhancing the public's awareness
in keeping the beach clean
would also help combat the
problem. Various organizations
have in recent years organized
a number of environmental
protection campaigns at
beaches. With the concerted
effort of the government
and the public, the floating
refuse problem at beaches
would be effectively controlled.
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