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Following is a question by the Hon Albert Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (January 31):
Question:
Recently, I received many complaints from members of the public that the light emitted from advertising light boxes (ALBs) on the external walls of many buildings has caused nuisance to residents, making it difficult for them to fall asleep. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of complaints received in each of the past three years about the nuisance caused to residents by ALBs on the external walls of buildings, and the number of cases in which such complaints were successfully handled and residents concerned were no longer affected by the nuisance; and
(b) whether it will consider strengthening the regulation of ALBs on the external walls of buildings to ensure that they will not cause nuisance to residents; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
The Government does not have overall statistics on the complaints received by relevant departments. Based on available information, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) received 3, 15 and 15 such complaints respectively during the three year period from 2004 to 2006. Despite the fact that these complaints fall outside the responsibility of the EPD and that there is no relevant legislation to control this type of nuisance, the EPD followed up these cases by persuading the owners of the ALBs to minimise the nuisance. There were 4 cases where the nuisance was successfully resolved through this means.
(b) ALBs are subject to control by various Government departments including the Buildings Department, the Fire Services Department, the Marine Department, the Hong Kong Police Force, the Civil Aviation Department and the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department. The Government has to ensure that ALBs are structurally safe; will not become a serious risk of fire; will not interfere with road, marine and aviation traffic; will not disfigure the natural beauty of any scenery or affect injuriously the amenities of any locality. However, the light intensity of the ALBs and whether they cause nuisance to nearby residents falls outside the current scope of control. The Government does not have any plan to broaden the existing legislative control to cover this area.
Ends/Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:07
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