For information STDC Paper 94/2020 on 19 November 2020 Sha Tin District Council Report on the Meeting of the Health and Environment Committee held on 3 November 2020 (1) The Committee discussed the following: (i) the “Relocation of Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works to Caverns – Progress Report” submitted by the Drainage Services Department, and passed the following provisional motion: “Background Before briefing the Health and Environment Committee of the Sha Tin District Council on the Relocation of Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works to Caverns on 3 November 2020, the Drainage Services Department had already applied for funding from the Panel on Development of the Legislative Council on 27 October 2020. We are strongly dissatisfied with such an arrangement and doubtful whether the District Officer (Sha Tin) fulfills the duties listed on the webpage of the the Home Affairs Department, serving ‘as a link between the District Council and Government departments’ and ‘maintaining close liaison with different sectors of the community to reflect their views to Government.’ Motion Regarding the above works, the Health and Environment Committee of the Sha Tin District Council makes the following demands: 1. the Development Bureau should consult the Sha Tin District Council and the residents of Sha Tin as soon as possible on the planning and development of the 28-hectare land released upon the relocation of the Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works, in order to address the issues related to the living environment, traffic and environmental protection that warrant increasing public concern; 2. to expedite the upgrading and the improvement of the deodourisation system of the sewage pumping facilities in Ma On Shan, in order to mitigate the stench caused by the increasing volume of sewage; 3. to address the public concern over Wuhan Pneumonia, an extra sewage rising main should be added to the sewage rising main underneath Kowloon City Baptist Church Hay Nien Primary School (the existing sewage main) in order to step up the inspection of the existing sewage main by having an additional set of mains, with a view to avoiding the sewage main under Yuen ( 1 ) Wo Road and Fo Tan Road from bursting again and lowering the risk of the spread of disease due to land subsidence; 4. to report to and consult the Sha Tin District Council on the Relocation of Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works to Caverns on a regular basis.” (Unanimously passed); (ii) “Government’s Proposal to Set up Long-term Testing Centres in New Territories East” and passed the following provisional motion: Motion 1 “At 9 am on 31 October 2020, it was revealed in the news that 4 locations were chosen as long-term community testing centres, among which Lek Yuen Community Hall was included as the long-term community testing centres in New Territories East. The Member of the Lek Yuen constituency was notified of the news by a staff member of the Sha Tin District Office nearly 12 pm that day. After the related news was released, it immediately sparked objections from residents and shop operators of Lek Yuen Estate and other stakeholders. The reasons for objection to the use of Lek Yuen Community Hall as a long-term community testing centre are as follows: 1. The close proximity of Lek Yuen Community Hall to residential area According to Mrs Carrie LAM CHENG Yuet-ngor, the long-term community testing centres have 2 functions, ‘if there is an outbreak in targeted groups, targeted areas or housing estates, the Government can arrange testing services more quickly’ and ‘allow members of the public to receive COVID-19 nucleic acid test service with payment’. Therefore, the long-term community testing centres will definitely be visited by infected patients or close contacts with high risk, which will increase the infective risk of the nearby residential area. Lek Yuen Community Hall is located at the centre of Lek Yuen Estate, which is between 2 primary schools and surrounded by elderly centres, residential care homes for the elderly and kindergartens. Normally, there are elderly people resting at the public space near the centre of Lek Yuen Estate, while many school children walk pass Lek Yuen Community Hall during the periods before and after school. The location of the long-term community testing centre is too close to the residential area, which highly increases the infective risk of the residents in the vicinity. 2. Long-term community testing centre should not be set up in communities with relatively high numbers of elderly and children According to the analysis by Mr Alan CHEUNG Tak-lun, Chief Manager of the Hospital Authority, the mortality rate among ( 2 ) elderly patients who contract COVID-19 is relatively higher, for elderly patients aged 80 or above contracting COVID-19, the mortality rate can even be high up to 34.1%. On the other hand, according to the news report from Ming Pao, citing different examples and studies, children are prone to COVID-19 due to weaker anti-epidemic awareness and they are prone to complications if infected. When selecting sites for the long-term community testing centres, the location not only should be as far away from residential areas as possible, but also should avoid places where there are relatively high numbers of elderly people and children. Lek Yuen Estate is the first public housing estate in Sha Tin with mostly elderly residents, and some of them even aged 80 or above. Besides, Lek Yuen Community Hall is located between 2 primary schools, and there is a kindergarten on the platform and an elderly centre on the ground floor of Kwai Wo House, while a residential care home for the elderly is at Fook Hoi House. Thus, choosing Lek Yuen Community Hall as a long-term community testing centre will pose great risk to the health of elderly people and children and it is definitely not a good choice. 3. Impact to the business of the merchants in the vicinity The second wave of COVID-19 unfortunately broke out in Hong Kong in June this year and Lek Yuen Estate was one of the hardest hit area, at which there were 9 confirmed cases in Luk Chuen House. The large-scale outbreak not only caused widespread panic and made residents anxious, but also dealt a huge blow to the business of the shop operators of Luk Yuen Plaza. Some shop operators even said that their business had even dropped over 50% due to the epidemic outbreak at Luk Chuen House. The government now chooses Sha Tin Lek Yuen Community Hall as a long-term community testing centre, and the shop operators are worried that their business will be affected. They really cannot take another blow from the sharp fall of business if another wave of epidemic breaks out in Lek Yuen Estate again due to the decision concerned. Motion: The Chairmen of 6 mutual aid committees of Lek Yuen Estate and the Vice-Chairman of the business association unanimously oppose to the use of Lek Yuen Community Hall as a long-term community testing centre. For details, please refer to the appendix. Therefore, the Health and Environment Committee of the Sha Tin District Council suggests that the Government withdraw the decision on the use of Lek Yuen Community Hall as a long-term community testing centre in the New Territories East, and consider using Yuen Wo Road Sports Centre or Shatin Jockey Club Public Squash Courts, which is also at Yuen Wo Road, as a ( 3 ) long-term community testing centre.” (Unanimously passed); and Motion 2 “Background The Food and Health Bureau announced that 4 locations were identified for use as long-term community testing centres on 31 October, which included Lek Yuen Community Hall, without prior consultation with residents of Sha Tin and the Sha Tin District Council. The Health and Environment Committee of the Sha Tin District Council is extremely dissatisfied with the situation. Motion The Health and Environment Committee of the Sha Tin District Council opposes to the use of Lek Yuen Community Hall as a long-term community testing centre, and demands that the Food and Health Bureau and the departments concerned give an account of the following issues to the Sha Tin District Council at the Sha Tin District Council meeting on 19 November or before the commencement of the above long-term community testing centres: 1. the site selection criteria for the long-term community testing centres; 2. the arrangements of the ventilation, entrance and exit, crowd control, storage of samples, the donning and doffing of personal protective equipment, etc. at the long-term community testing centres; 3. the venue management of Lek Yuen Community Hall and issues related to the charges of private organisation booking; 4. the procedures and arrangements of public application for health codes, Yuekang Code and Macao Health Code.” (Unanimously passed); (iii) the replies of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the Social Welfare Department to the question on “Hawkers in Sha Tin and Ma On Shan”; and (iv) the replies of the FEHD, the Hong Kong Police Force, the Labour Department and the Sha Tin District Office to the question on “Group Gatherings of Foreign Domestic Helpers in Sha Tin”. ( 4 ) (2) The Committee endorsed the following: (i) the co-organiser and funding approval of the activity “Prevention of COVID-19”; (ii) the updated membership lists of working groups under the committee. (3) The Committee noted the following: (i) the responses of the relevant government departments to matters arising from the previous meeting; (ii) the report of Working Group; (iii) Statistical Overview of Sha Tin District Environmental Hygiene Service (as at 30 September2020); and (iv) the improvement works for public toilets in Ngau Pei Sha Village and Fo Tan Village.