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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Raymond Ho and a reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (February 20):
Question:
Reports of rats found on civilian passenger aircraft are heard from time to time. In addition to spreading germs and posing hygiene hazards, rats may even bite and damage the electrical wires on the aircraft, jeopardising flight safety. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) it knows if there were cases of rats found on arriving civilian passenger aircraft in the past five years; if there were such cases, of the number; and
(b) the hygiene conditions of arriving civilian passenger aircraft are subject to regulation under the laws of Hong Kong; if so, of the regulatory measures adopted by the responsible government department(s) to ensure that the hygiene conditions of aircraft are satisfactory, to avoid passengers' health or even flight safety from being affected?
Reply:
Madam President,
Airlines are duty-bound to ensure the hygiene and flight safety of their aircraft, while the Government plays the monitoring role.
(a) Over the past five years, the Department of Health (DH) did not receive any complaint about rats found on aircraft. During the period between July 2006 and December 2007, DH conducted inspections on over 100 arriving planes and no rat was found. According to the records of the Civil Aviation Department (CAD), there has been no cases of rats being spotted nor cases of aviation safety being affected by rats in passenger aircraft arriving in Hong Kong in the past five years.
(b) In Hong Kong, hygiene matters relating to international civilian passenger aircraft are subject to regulation under the Quarantine and Prevention of Disease Ordinance (Cap.141). The Port Health Office (PHO) of the DH is responsible for the enforcement work.
The scope of work involved in safeguarding the hygiene of international civilian passenger aircraft includes monitoring the hygiene condition of water and food supplied to aircraft crew members and passengers, the environmental hygiene of the airport passenger terminal, its surroundings and aircraft, as well as conducting surveillance of disease vectors (such as mosquitoes and rodents) at the airport. PHO staff will conduct inspections at the airport and on aircraft to monitor their hygiene conditions and collect samples from water supply points, air caterers and aircraft for examination. The PHO will initiate investigations and follow-up actions after a complaint about hygiene conditions on aircraft has been received. The PHO will also maintain close cooperation with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) to monitor the environmental hygiene and disease vectors at the airport. Where necessary, it will give advice to the AA, airlines and other related parties such as restaurants, etc. on the improvement of environmental hygiene.
On flight safety, CAD requires our airlines to maintain the highest safety standard in both their flight and maintenance operations in accordance with the standards and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the laws of Hong Kong. For example, to uphold aviation safety, CAD requires rigorous inspections of aircraft by the flight and maintenance crews before each flight to ensure the normal operation of all aircraft systems. CAD conducts regular inspections to ensure compliance with the relevant requirements by the airlines.
Ends/Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Issued at HKT 12:30
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