I refer to the report headlined, 'Only 10 beaches rated good' (South China Morning Post, November 7), which painted a misleading picture of beach water quality. Our press release issued on November 6, clearly stated that the latest weekly gradings only covered the 11 beaches in Hong Kong Island South District which are managed by the Provisional Urban Council (PUC), since the bathing season for the 26 beaches managed by the Provisional Regional Council ended on the previous weekend (October 31). A total of 10 out of 11 beaches in Hong Kong Island South District were reported as having good water quality and the other beach (Deep Water Bay Beach) was given a fair rating. However, your report compared these 10 good beaches with the 25 good beaches which were reported in our previous week's press release, when all 37 beaches in both the councils' areas were included, and concluded that as the number of good rated beaches had been reduced from 25 to 10, then water quality at beaches had taken a turn for the worse. Such a conclusion is wrong as there is no indication of a downturn in beach water quality. Indeed, 91 per cent of the beaches recently reported are rated as having good water quality. During the bathing season, the Environmental Protection Department monitors the beach water quality and releases the gradings every week before the weekend in order to provide timely information to the public on the latest water quality trend. We shall continue to issue weekly gradings for the 11 beaches of the PUC until the bathing season ends on November 30. PATRICK LEI Principal Environmental Officer for Director of Environmental Protection
