****************************
Following is the transcript of remarks of the media session by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, after attending a radio programme this morning (July 25):
Reporter: Do you mean the government plans to abandon pipes that used soldering in the future, and would you also check other chemicals that cause cancer or dangerous to human beings?
Secretary for Transport and Housing: Regarding the presence of other heavy metals apart from lead in drinking water, given the public concern about water quality, I think the expert task force headed by the Deputy Director of Water Supplies will look into the whole issue of heavy metals and also the safety of water pipes. So we will look into that matter in that context. Regarding the use of water pipes without involving soldering, this is indeed the direction that my staff in the Housing Department (is) looking into because one of the, you can say, primary suspects of the present risk is the suspected used of lead in soldering for water pipes, so if we could use water pipes without involving any soldering, then obviously that kind of risk could be eliminated.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Saturday, July 25, 2015
Issued at HKT 12:25
NNNN
