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Letter to the Editor of the South China Morning Post published on 28 March, 2002 - One-off cross-harbour swim at eastern end not ruled out
Your report and editorial on the sewage treatment scheme for Victoria Harbour (South China Morning Post, March 21) require clarification.
We have never claimed that Victoria Harbour is suitable for swimming. We have, rather, pointed out that since the commissioning of Stage 1 of the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme there has been a substantial improvement in water quality at the eastern end of the harbour, with levels of bacteria reduced by up to 90 per cent. We have also said that while the water quality is not ideal yet, we would not rule out the concept of a cross-harbour swim at the eastern end as a one-off event. The improvement has been brought about because Stage 1 now provides a high level of treatment to 70 per cent of the sewage flow, with about 70 per cent of the organic pollutants in the sewage being removed. The quantity so treated is approaching 1.3 million cubic metres (m3) per day.
We have also made the point on various occasions that the Central and Western harbour area is still polluted by largely untreated sewage from Hong Kong Island. The quantity is about 0.4 million m3 per day, not one million m3 per day as suggested in your article.
Your criticism that "yet more studies will have to be conducted" is misplaced. The same panel of international experts who reviewed the scheme in 2000 and suggested alternatives also recognised the importance of thoroughly investigating the alternatives before coming to a final view. We are now pursuing the studies and trials they recommended.
The international experts did not "recommend that the government plan should be scrapped". Rather, they endorsed the basic concept but suggested that instead of a long outfall we should investigate the possibility of a discharge into the harbour. They made no recommendation that the project should be privatised.
Regarding the projected time required to complete the project (up to another 13 years), this is a product of standard government procedures and the complexity of the task. One of the studies we are undertaking will look into the possibility of shortening the time by adopting alternative contractual arrangements which make more use of private sector expertise in risk and project management and financing.
We are committed to moving forward with this project and to that end would like to encourage more public debate on the community's aspirations for harbour water quality. Such a debate must be based on accurate information.
BENNY Y.K. WONG
Assistant Director (Waste and Water)
for Director of Environmental Protection
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