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PLA promises to turn down noise

PLA helicopters will not fly at low altitudes around Sek Kong for much longer, commanders have told residents upset by the noise.

A PLA spokesman said the flights were aimed at familiarising pilots with the geography near the New Territories air base, and promised to try to minimise noise.

The assurance followed concerns expressed by villagers in Shiu Liu Tin, close to the military airfield. Their complaints to the district office in Yuen Long have been forwarded to the Home Affairs Department.

A department spokesman said the problem would be raised with the PLA via the Security Bureau. But the PLA spokesman said officers were already considering how they could address the residents' concerns.

He said: 'This is the very beginning of the training programme and they are just trying to get familiar with the area around the base. So at this stage, they fly very low.

'But as time goes on, such flights will be much fewer.

'We understand that they may have caused some noise to local residents around the base. We want to tell them we are considering their problem and maybe we will make some changes in our training programmes.

'We hope local residents can understand that we have to do military training.' The spokesman said the PLA, flying military aircraft, was not bound by the Civil Aviation (Aircraft Noise) Ordinance but had been operating within the legal noise range.

A district office spokesman said residents from nearby Pat Heung had also complained about noise created by Heliservices, a private helicopter company based in the area.

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