Street hygiene in Hong Kong has been repeatedly criticized, and the rodent problem has even affected many citizens.
The new Secretary for the Environment and Ecology, Tse Chin-wan, took office on the 22nd. In an interview with Hong Kong 01, he admitted that there is a lot of room for improvement in Hong Kong's streets and urban hygiene: "The focus of the current government is to achieve practical results." He also bluntly stated that the government has always been A lot of manpower and material resources were put in to deal with the rodent infestation, but it still fell far short of the expectations of the public.
Regarding how to improve environmental sanitation in the future, Xie Zhanhuan admitted that it is necessary to understand the current work first, but he believes that it is not ideal to formulate "KPIs" (Key Performance Indicators) with a single indicator: "To catch more mice is to do well?" He said The plan is to comprehensively determine KPIs based on a number of indicators, and indicators for front-line work levels must also be formulated.
The restructured Environment and Ecology Bureau took over environmental hygiene and food safety policies, and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department was also assigned to the bureau.
Xie Zhanhuan, who joined the government for more than 30 years, has been in charge of environmental protection affairs. He described his 20-day tenure as just a new beginning: "If I understand that there are a lot of things and big plans, it would be irresponsible."
He emphasized that we must first understand the specific work of the FEHD in detail, such as the supervision situation, how to evaluate the work level, etc., before we can make a specific plan for improvement: "I will take the time to personally go to the frontline points to do it."
Environmental hygiene and food safety are closely related to citizens
Xie Chin-wan said bluntly that Hong Kong's urban appearance has improved compared to 40 or 50 years ago. However, in terms of economic and technological development, Hong Kong is a first-tier city in the world. On the other hand, there is room for improvement in street hygiene and other aspects.
Xie also pointed out that he has expectations for the food ring work: "If you can achieve this in the next five years, the greatest satisfaction may come from this aspect." He emphasized that environmental hygiene and food safety have a great relationship with all people in the society, and also affect the image of Hong Kong.
The government announced earlier the establishment of the "District Matters Coordination Working Group", under the leadership of the Deputy Secretary for Administration, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing, to improve the overall environmental hygiene and city appearance of Hong Kong.
Tse Chin-wan believes that the working group can integrate and coordinate different government departments, and bluntly stated that although the FEHD is the main department, it cannot solve all problems, including rodent infestations, by relying on the FEHD alone.
Regarding the rat infestation problem, Xie Zhanhuan emphasized: "It's definitely not a matter of walking the streets a few times." He agrees that the society is very concerned, so it is an important issue.
He also pointed out that the government has been investing a lot of manpower and material resources to deal with rodent infestations: "It's not a problem of lack of resources, but there is a gap between the results of the solution and the expectations of the public? And the gap is huge."
The restructured Environment and Ecology Bureau took over environmental hygiene and food safety policies, and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department was also assigned to the bureau.
When asked if there would be a KPI for the rat infestation issue, Tse Chin-wan responded that the FEHD had been discussing this all the time, and had proposed to use the number of rats caught as the KPI, but he said, "If you catch more rats, you will do well. Good?” Xie thinks that it is not easy to identify a single factor as an indicator: “I don’t know the best KPI at the moment, but it should be established.” He plans to establish KPIs at the front-line work level, such as whether the work meets the requirements Asked the level of requirements; and proposed to use multiple indicators to evaluate the problem of rodent infestation: "If you use several different KPIs, will there be improvement when all of them drop?"
The Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, visited the FEHD Headquarters today, and hoped that his colleagues would uphold the spirit of serving the people. Rat baits are misplaced in the market and piles of rubbish. Advocate for strengthening law enforcement. FEHD says that there are loopholes in the rebuttal index of rodent control district councillors. FEHD has the largest number of rodents in the 50 districts. Next quarter, the rodent surveillance index of the 50 districts will be released. There will be a one-month rodent eradication operation in severe areas. Since 2018, there have been more than 10 cases of rat hepatitis E. The Ombudsman actively checks the food ring to prevent rodent infestation Effectiveness
