An extra $1 million will be spent each month to step up cleaning work at all public housing estates, in a government move to cultivate a 'clean culture' in Hong Kong.
Permanent secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands Leung Chin-man yesterday attended the opening ceremony of a cleanup campaign that aims to encourage people living on public estates to help keep the districts they live in clean. Mr Leung said it was difficult for the government to employ more permanent cleaning staff, but it would allocate more resources to help public estates clean up their living environment themselves. He estimated the government would spend an extra $1 million a month.
A Hong Kong-wide cleanup campaign was launched last month in response to the findings of a government report about the alarming spread of Sars at the Amoy Gardens housing estate in Ngau Tau Kok. It showed a faulty sewerage system was a factor, as too were vermin who thrived in the estate's unsanitary conditions. The Housing Department has set up a taskforce to investigate sewerage complaints in public housing estates.
Yesterday's campaign launch was held at the Wang Tau Hom Estate in Wong Tai Sin, close to Kowloon Bay - which was one of the worst-hit areas during the outbreak.
Mr Leung said he particularly wanted to see more young people joining the cause and cultivating a new 'clean culture' in Hong Kong. 'Our campaign coincides with the 84th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement in modern China after which a new culture emerged. I hope that through continuous efforts and participation by residents, a new culture will find its way to our estates,' Mr Leung said. The May Fourth Movement was one of the anti-foreigner movements in China. Some scholars call it the Chinese Enlightenment.
Under the cleanup campaign, extensive cleansing and scrubbing will be done on a quarterly basis. Competitions will also be organised to increase public participation, and residents encouraged to report hygiene black spots.
