Blitz fails to deter people drying their laundry in public

Blitz operations by officials to stop people drying laundry in public places have failed, Sai Kung District Council members said yesterday.

Despite stepped-up enforcement, the councillors said residents on both public and private estates continued the nuisance practice in Tseung Kwan O.

Sai Kung District Councillor Or Yiu-lam said residents still turned a blind eye to government warning banners.

'What we see is that clothes and linen are still hanging side by side with government banners. The government should think of other ways of stopping this,' he said at yesterday's council meeting.

'Many construction sites are surrounded by wire-mesh fences which are being used to hang clothes.

'I would recommend the government [force them to] change the wire-mesh fences into wooden boards, to make it harder for people to hang their clothes.'

Two large-scale operations were launched to clear the laundry at black spots across Tseung Kwan O on January 6 and February 2, according to Joanne Chu Shui-man, an assistant district officer of Sai Kung.

During the operations, clothes were removed and thrown into buckets, although residents were allowed to retrieve them. The joint operations involved the Home Affairs, Leisure and Cultural Services, Highways, Transport and Food and Environmental Hygiene departments.

The Ombudsman has urged government departments to act on residents' complaints about the laundry, and singled out Tseung Kwan O, Sai Kung, for government action.

However, Sai Kung district councillor Au Ning-fat said they should let sleeping dogs lie so long as residents did not use trees and streetlight poles.

'We need to understand that many people are doing this because they can't afford a clothes dryer,' he said.

Sai Kung councillors believed that fewer than 20 households in Tseung Kwan O were involved.

A Home Affairs Department spokesman said the problem also occurred in Tsim Sha Tsui, Yau Ma Tei, Mongkok, Shamshuipo, Wong Tai Sin and Tin Shui Wai.

'It is really a cultural problem, so public education is really the only answer,' said Stuart Chen Seng-tek, an officer with the Housing Department.

Ms Chu said the Sai Kung District Office would step up public education by asking public and private estate representatives to help promote public responsibility.