EPD Releases Latest Water Quality Ratings for 39 Beaches: 24 Good, 14 Fair, 2 Poor.

Grading of beach water quality released

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (June 13) released the latest grading of water quality for 39 gazetted beaches (see Note 1) and one non-gazetted beach (see Note 2).

Twenty-four beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1), 14 as Fair (Grade 2) and two as Poor (Grade 3).

Grade 1 beaches are:

Big Wave Bay Beach*

Lo So Shing Beach

Cafeteria New Beach

Lower Cheung Sha Beach

Cafeteria Old Beach

Repulse Bay Beach*

Cheung Chau Tung Wan Beach*

Shek O Beach*

Chung Hom Kok Beach

South Bay Beach*

Deep Water Bay Beach*

St. Stephen's Beach

Golden Beach*

Stanley Main Beach*

Hap Mun Bay Beach*

Tai Po Lung Mei Beach*

Hung Shing Yeh Beach*

Tong Fuk Beach

Kiu Tsui Beach

Trio Beach

Kwun Yam Beach

Turtle Cove Beach

Lido Beach*

Upper Cheung Sha Beach

Grade 2 beaches are:

Anglers' Beach*

Hoi Mei Wan Beach

Approach Beach

Kadoorie Beach

Butterfly Beach*

Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach*

Castle Peak Beach

Middle Bay Beach

Clear Water Bay First Beach

Pui O Beach*

Clear Water Bay Second Beach*

Silver Mine Bay Beach*

Discovery Bay Tai Pak Beach [Non-gazetted beach]

Ting Kau Beach*

Grade 3 beaches are:

Casam Beach*

Silverstrand Beach*

Compared with the grading released last week, Lido Beach has been upgraded from Grade 2 to Grade 1. Discovery Bay Tai Pak Beach and Kadoorie Beach have been changed from Grade 1 to Grade 2.

"The changes are generally within the normal range of fluctuation of the bacteriological water quality of the beaches," an EPD spokesman said.

Under the present grading system, beaches are classified into four grades, namely Good (Grade 1), Fair (Grade 2), Poor (Grade 3) and Very Poor (Grade 4), according to the level of E. coli in the water. Grades are calculated on the basis of the geometric mean of the E. coli counts on the five most recent sampling occasions.

While the ratings represent the general water quality at the beaches, the EPD spokesman reminded members of the public that water quality could be temporarily affected during and after periods of heavy rain. Bathers should avoid swimming at beaches for up to three days after a tropical cyclone or heavy rainfall.

A summary of beach grades is published weekly before the weekend. The latest beach grades based on the most current data may be obtained from the EPD's website on Beach Water Quality (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/beach) or the beach hotline, 2511 6666. Members of the public can also obtain the latest daily water quality forecast information for all beaches that are open for swimming through the EPD's dedicated webpage on the beach water quality forecast (www.epd.gov.hk/en/BWQForecast).

Note 1: Lifesaving services are provided by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department at 21 gazetted beaches, marked with an asterisk (*) above, from June 1. For details, please refer to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department's Special Announcement (www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/beach/index.html).

Note 2: This refers to Discovery Bay Tai Pak Beach which has no lifesaving service.

Remarks by SLW on new "continuous contract" requirement under Employment Ordinance and Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse Ordinance

Following are the remarks by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, after attending Care the Carers Campaign – Carer-friendly Commendation Ceremony this afternoon (January 13):

Reporter: With regard to the new "468" (new "continuous contract" requirement under Employment Ordinance) employment rule, how would that better safeguard part-timers' rights and how would the government respond to those who remain exploited under the new rule, and what protection mechanisms are in place?

Secretary for Labour and Welfare: The new "468" arrangement will come into force on January 18. This is going to be a very clear improvement over the existing arrangement, what we now call "418" as the existing "continuous contract" requirement under the Employment Ordinance. The major improvement is in the calculation of working hours. Under the existing "continuous contract" requirement, the major concern for quite a number of employees is that their working hours for three consecutive weeks are quite long, with very short working hours in the fourth week, and they do not meet the "continuous contract" requirement.

However, once we have changed to "468", that would no longer be the case. If counting for over a period of four weeks, employees will meet the new "continuous contract" requirements if they worked for the employer concerned for 68 hours or more. The employers have to provide a full suite of privileges under the requirements of the Employment Ordinance. I think this is what we are trying to achieve. And for that change, it is achieved through a long discussion at the Labour Advisory Board, with the consensus agreement from both employee and employer members, and then we implement it through amendment to the Employment Ordinance.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)

Source: AI-found images