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SCMP Reporter

But spokesman says cleaning up at pool was just standard procedure

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department was last night accused of trying to destroy evidence at the Hammer Hill Road swimming pool after another discovery of bloodworms.

But the department denied there had been a cover-up.

'We have just followed standard procedure in cleaning up the area,' a spokesman said. 'The police did not tell us that if there was any reoccurrence of worm infestations we should not remove any objects'.

The allegation came after officials dismissed suggestions they had covered up parts of a Food and Environmental Hygiene Department report claiming 30 pupal shells  were found under a slide at Tai Wan Shan swimming pool.

This contrasted with earlier statements made by  Paul Cheung Kwok-kee, assistant director of leisure services. 'In terms of bloodworms, we only found young worms. We did not find any eggs or pupae,' he said  on Monday.

He defended his statements yesterday. 'I said that there were no pupae, but you could say that I neglected to mention there were the empty shells. If I forgot to mention something, it doesn't mean I'm trying to cover up the truth,' he said.

Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Anissa Wong Sean-yee said: 'I can guarantee to the public that the Leisure and Cultural Services Department has dealt with this incident in an open and responsible manner'.

On a Commercial Radio programme last night she apologised for Mr Cheung neglecting to mention the pupal shells but added that the misunderstanding was due to 'unclear communication'.

Meanwhile, cleaning workers at the Hammer Hill Road pool found 10 worms at 9am yesterday, on artificial turf on a raised area in the middle of a pool, according to the department. They cleaned the area and removed the turf after taking water samples and worm specimens.

The Hong Kong and Kowloon Lifeguards' Union vice-chairman Alex Kwok Siu-kit  called the police at 6pm  because he feared evidence could be destroyed by clearing away the worms. He said samples of water and turf were handed to police by lifeguards.

Earlier yesterday, experts for an investigating panel said there was not enough evidence to confirm or rule out that bloodworms had been breeding at various pools. 'The conclusion for the Tai Wan Shan pool was that, because we found worms, pupal shells and mosquitoes, there could be a suitable environment for them to grow,' said  Philip Ho Yuk-yin, a consultant for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. 'For the Kowloon Park swimming pool, our conclusion was not as clear, and we only found that there is possibly a suitable environment for worms to live.'

Samson Wong Sai-yin,  of the department of microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, said:  'The environment there could support bloodworms  ... for a short period, but we can't confirm they completed their lifecycle there.'

The Worm turns

'I can guarantee to the public that the Liesure and Cultural Services Department has dealt with this incident in open and responsible manner'

Anissa Wong Sean-yee

Director, Leisure and Cultural Services

'If I forgot to mention something, it doesn't mean that I'm trying to cover up the truth'

Paul Cehung Kwok-kww

Assistant Director, Leisure Services

'The information that I have does not show me everything I need to know to conclude that the events in the past few weeks are entirely natural'

Dr Cheung Yun-hing

City University

'The environment there could support the bloodworms to live for a short period, but we can't confirm that they completed their lifecycle there'

Dr Samson WOng Sai-yin

Hong Kong University

'Such a situation [bloodworms breeding in the pool] can happen, but we don't have concrete evidence to show that it did happen'

Gregory Leung Wing-lup

Director, Food and Environment Hygiene

'The conclusion for the Tai Wan Shan pool was that, because we found worms, pupal shells and mosquitoes, there could be a suitable environment for them to grow'

Dr Philip Ho Yuk-yin, consultant, Food and Environmental Hygiene



Staff 'tried to destroy evidence of worms'