Following is a question by the Hon Lau Kong-wah and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Mrs Carrie Lam, in the Legislative Council today (May 7):
Question:
Regarding the consumption of fresh water in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the quantities of fresh water consumed as well as the amounts of water and sewage charges paid by domestic households and commercial premises respectively in each of the past five years;
(b) whether it has assessed if the quantities of water consumed by domestic and commercial premises have shown an upward trend in recent years, and how the increase in water consumption compares with the growth in the numbers of domestic and commercial premises; and
(c) of the expenditure on promoting water conservation in the past three years, and how the figure compares with that in the three years preceding that period; and whether it has reviewed if the promotion work in this respect is inadequate?
Reply:
Madam President,
To treasure our scarce water resources, we have been actively pursuing water conservation through various publicity campaigns including Announcements in the Public Interest on television and radio, as well as promotional messages printed on water bills. Furthermore, we have put forward a comprehensive strategy for total water management, which includes enhancing promotion on water conservation to ensure adequate fresh water supply for our community in the long term.
My reply to the three parts of the question is as follows:
(a) & (b) Please refer to Annex.
(c) The average annual expenditure in promoting water conservation over the past three years was about $1.3 million, which indicated an increase when compared with the annual average of about $0.8 million in the three years preceding that period. We will regularly review our publicity work for promoting water conservation and will enhance public education on the need to conserve water in the proposed comprehensive strategy for total water management.
Ends/Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Issued at HKT 14:30
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