OPERATORS of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder trucks in Tuen Mun will face stiff penalties from August if they refuse to park their vehicles in a special, secure overnight parking area.
''The District Lands Officer is working out the details with the oil companies, but if all goes well we will be able to set up the first site in July or August,'' said the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department's chief engineer for gas safety and enforcement, Ho Kwong-wai.
The plan is part of a package of proposals by the department to improve gas safety following a spate of dangerous incidents over the past two years.
Other proposals include fining or jailing contractors who break gas pipes, and the launch next month of an LPG public safety campaign and code of practice covering dim sum trolleys and restaurants.
The Tuen Mun site is the first of 13 overnight parking areas the department plans to set up throughout Hong Kong.
The department has been anxious to remove LPG vehicles from residential areas since a truck was set alight in Tuen Mun in September 1992. The subsequent explosions and fires injured five people and wrecked 23 vehicles.