Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ7: Air-conditioning in markets/cooked food centers
Following is a question by Ir Dr Hon Ho Chung-tai and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, in the Legislative Council today (October 8):
Question:
Regarding the issue of air-conditioning in markets/cooked food centres, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the total number of public markets/cooked food centres without air-conditioning systems in the territory, and apart from seven of these markets/cooked food centres which will be retrofitted with air-conditioning systems, whether there are plans to retrofit air-conditioning systems for the remaining markets/cooked food centres, if so, of the details;
(b) as lessees of stalls in 19 public markets/cooked food centres have been consulted on the retrofitting of air-conditioning projects, whether stall lessees of other public markets/cooked food centres without air-conditioning systems had been consulted on the retrofitting works, or made requests for such works in the past three years; if so, of the percentage of lessees supporting the retrofitting works and agreeing to pay the recurrent air-conditioning charges among all stall lessees in the markets/cooked food centres concerned; and
(c) if the percentage mentioned in item (b) above falls short of the 85 per cent required by the authorities, of the authorities' measures, broken down by market/cooked food centre, to address the issue of air-conditioning in the markets/cooked food centres concerned?
Reply:
(a) There are a total of 81 public wet markets managed by the Food and Environmental Hygiene (FEHD), of which 38 have a built-in cooked food centre (CFC). Of the 81 markets, 14 are fully air-conditioned while another 10 are partially air-conditioned (i.e. only the CFC portion of the market is provided with air-conditioning). The remaining 57 markets are not equipped with any air-conditioning system.
Preparations are in hand to retro-fit air-conditioning to seven markets/ CFCs in which over 85 per cent of concerned stall lessees supported the retro-fitting works and agreed to pay the recurrent costs involved. Upon completion of these capital works projects in the next two years, we will examine and review the issues relating to retro-fitting of air-conditioning to other markets/CFCs under FEHD's purview.
(b) & (c) Apart from the 19 markets/CFCs mentioned in the question, FEHD has not conducted any consultation with the stall lessees of other markets/CFCs with regard to retro-fitting of air-conditioning. Over the past three years, the department received a total of 39 requests for ventilation-related improvements to existing markets/CFCs. For those markets/CFCs without any air-conditioning retro-fitting plan, we will introduce necessary measures to improve the ventilation such as mounting additional air grilles, installing extraction systems, providing ceiling fans and exhaust ducts, etc. The actual scope of improvement measures will be drawn up having regard to the conditions of individual markets and the views of stall lessees concerned.
End/Wednesday, October 8, 2003
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