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Press
Releases - 1997 (July - December)
Island
West Transfer Station Opens
The Island
West Transfer Station (IWTS), which is the first refuse transfer
station constructed inside a man-made cavern, is officially
opened today (Tuesday).
Located
underneath Mount Davis at Kennedy Town, the transfer station
was built at a capital cost of $640 million and with an annual
operating cost of $56 million.
Officiating
at the opening ceremony, the Secretary for Planning, Environment
and Lands, Mr Bowen Leung, said the station was built inside
a man-made cavern because it reduced the noise and odour nuisance.
It also released valuable land for other uses.
Mr Leung
also added that the Waste Reduction Plan would be introduced
in mid-1998, firmly implanting waste reduction \as government
policy.
"The awareness
displayed by individual waste producers will be critical to
the success of the Waste Reduction Plan," he said.
The IWTS
is the second transfer facility serving the Hong Kong Island.
The Assistant
Director of Environmental Protection (Waste Facilities), Mr
Benny Wong, said at the ceremony that together with the Island
East Transfer Station, the facilities provide a joint handling
capacity over 2,200 tonnes per day, which is sufficient to
accommodate all waste generated from Hong Kong Island.
Like other
waste management projects, the IWTS is developed under a "design,
build and operate" contract arrangement under which the contractor
is required to operate the station for 15 years.
Capable
of processing 1,000 tonnes of refuse a day, the IWTS has been
built to very high environmental standards.
"Wastewater
treatment plant and odour removal equipment have been installed
inside the facility to ensure that no nuisance will be caused
to nearby residents," Mr Wong said.
"All waste
received at the station is compacted into specially designed
sealed containers which will be transferred by vessels to
the West New Territories Landfill at Nim Wan for final disposal,"
he added.
Also present
at the opening ceremony are the acting Director of Environmental
Protection, Mr Mike Stokoe; and the Managing Director of Swire
BFI Waste Services Ltd, Mr Lionel J Krieger.
End/Tuesday,
December 9, 1997
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