Provisional Legislative Council
Panel on Home Affairs

Paper No. CB(2)985(03)

Provision of Drainage System in Rural Areas of Tuen Mun

16. TMPDB members were concerned about the drainage system in the rural areas of Tuen Mun. They pointed out that the present drainage system could not cope with the rapid developments in Tuen Mun, and that new construction works further aggravated the flooding problem of nearby low-lying areas. The Convenor said that according to the Administration, the drainage system in rural areas of Tuen Mun was considered at two levels, both longer term institutional measures through provision of drainage master plan for overall flood prevention and shorter term, area-specific minor drainage works to mitigate local problems. The Drainage Master Plan Study for Tuen Mun and Sham Tseng had commenced in March 1997 and scheduled to complete by September 1998. Minor drainage works were co-ordinated under the Rural Planning and Improvement Strategy (RPIS). There were eight RPIS minor projects for rural areas of Tuen Mun at a total cost of about $40 million. Four of these projects had been completed, two were in progress while the remaining one would commence in 1999 and be scheduled to complete in 2001. The Administration would closely monitor the need for further works.

17. TMPDB members pointed out the present division of work for projects under RPIS, i.e. the Territory Development Department (TDD) to be responsible for projects each costing $15 million or above and Home Affairs Department (HAD) responsible for those below this amount. They said that projects undertaken by TDD were often not carried out expeditiously and could not meet the needs of local community. As HAD had frequent contacts with local community and was more aware of the problems and needs of local people, they suggested the current funding ceiling of $15 million for projects undertaken by HAD be raised so that more projects could be carried out expeditiously to meet the needs of local community.