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DSD Open Day 2019 concluded successfully
22 January 2019
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The Drainage Services Department (DSD) Open Day 2019 was held at Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works on 19 & 20 January 2019 and concluded successfully. The two-day event received overwhelming response from the public and attracted over 20,000 visitors in total, which was record-high over the years. Under this year's theme, "30 Years of Groundwork, Embracing a New Age", the event features various activities such as thematic exhibitions and guided tours with the aim of enhancing public understanding of the department's development and efforts over the years, as well as the work done in combating and mitigating climate change. Speaking at the opening, the Director of Drainage Services, Mr Edwin Tong, said that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the DSD's establishment. The department is committed to providing professional sewage treatment and stormwater drainage services to the public. He said, "We adopted a three-pronged strategy in flood prevention i.e. stormwater interception at upstream, flood storage at mid-stream and drainage improvement at downstream, and eliminated 125 flooding blackspots over the years. There remain only six flooding blackspots in Hong Kong. In respect of sewage treatment, the largest sewage treatment infrastructure project, the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS), was completed in 2015. With the water quality of Victoria Harbour greatly improved, the Harbour Race was resumed in 2011 and in 2017, it followed its original race route of some 40 years ago.” Looking forward, Mr Tong added, "The DSD not only has to tackle the challenges brought by climate change and continue to enhance the drainage facilities, but will also carry out pipe rehabilitation, river revitalisation and relocation of Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works to caverns to vacate land for more suitable purposes to cope with the overall development of Hong Kong." Along with the theme for this year, the DSD introduced its "4Rs" at the open days. The first "R" stands for reviewing the achievements in flood prevention and sewage treatment of the DSD over 30 years, while the other three "R"s represent the iconic future projects of the department, namely river revitalisation, rehabilitation and relocation of Shatin Sewage Treatment Works to caverns. A prize presentation ceremony for the Manhole Cover Design Competition was also held during the open days. With the theme of "4Rs", the competition received an overwhelming response with more than 1,400 designs received. All entries were on display to the public during the open days. The department continued to organise the Blue Green Ambassador Programme this year, with a view to deepening students' knowledge of the work of the DSD and the importance of environmental protection. Among the 200 ambassadors recruited, 24 were selected as docents for the open days. As a major highlight of the event, 19 trade partners, green groups and professional institutions had set up exhibition and game booths to provide the latest information of their products and services to the public. To encourage participation, two competitions, namely “The Best Thematic Booth” and “The Favorite Booth” were held during the Open Day. Visitors could show their support by casting votes. Assistant Directors of Drainage Services, Mr Chui Wai-sing, presented the prizes to Welcome Construction Company Limited with the highest number of votes for the two competitions. Other highlights included stage performances, game booths, a kids-fun area and a parent-child planting activity as entertaining and educational programmes.  The Director of Drainage Services, Mr Edwin Tong (third right); the Deputy Director of Drainage Services, Mr Mak Ka-wai (third left); and the Assistant Directors of Drainage Services, Mr Chui Wai-sing (first left), Mr Anthony Tsang (first right), Mr Fedrick Kan (second left), and Mr Wong Sui-kan (second right), officiated at the opening ceremony  Group photo of the winners and adjudicators of the Manhole Cover Design Competition  The Deputy Director of Drainage Services, Mr Mak Ka-wai (middle), presented certificates of merit to Blue-Green Ambassadors  The wide range of entertaining and educational programmes held at Open Days is well received by the public
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