THE Urban Council plans to replace the rusty, unhygienic barbecue pits on Southern District beaches with modern facilities.
The council's Southern District amenities officer, Chan Kwok-yan, said he aimed to have the barbecue sites updated in the next few years.
''These things cost time, money and manpower so it won't happen overnight,'' he said.
''We have about 215 pits on our southern beaches and with material costs for each pit in the region of several hundred dollars, obviously expenses will be high - and that's not even including the cost of labour.'' The move was welcomed by people using the barbecue pits at Deepwater Bay yesterday.
Ko Kin-fai, on an family outing, said improvements were long overdue. He was always worried about the hygiene of the barbecue pits.
''I'm really happy to hear the plan. I think they should have done it a long time ago. We bring our own grille because the pit is very dirty but I hope the new ones will be cleaner.'' Mr Chan said the barbecue sites in Shek O and Deepwater Bay were the busiest in the Southern District, if not in the whole territory. Maintenance work was carried out on them every winter, as with all sites under the jurisdiction of the Urban Council.
