How hard can it be to say sorry over Fanling water scare?
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the
Dongjiang water supply to Hong Kong, the government launched a series of events reminding residents to be grateful for the water they drink. Earlier in the year, Director of Water Supplies Roger Wong Yan-lok said he hoped the public would more deeply understand the importance of the water supply and appreciate the country's immense support.
Yes, water is life. It is not to be taken for granted. That's why both Wong and Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho have been in the spotlight in the past week, after mysterious particles were found in the
freshwater supply of two housing estates in Fanling.
The mystery was finally solved when the government released laboratory results last Thursday. The particles turned out to be
bitumen , a black, sticky by-product of crude oil, not the kind of substance you would want in your glass of water. The substance has been banned from the lining of pipes since 2005. Yet it somehow turned up in freshwater pipes supplying the two estates that were completed between 2021 and 2022.
The outcry has been absolutely understandable. Residents should be applauded for not getting into a widespread panic. Many were buying bottled water to drink and cook with, despite government assurances that the samples collected 'consistently complied with freshwater safety standards'.
Even after the results were released, Drinking Water Safety Advisory Committee chairman Chan Hon-fai said the water was safe, but advised residents against consuming the particles.
There are several reasons for the public outcry. First, it took the government a week to determine what the substance was, while a test commissioned by local media and conducted by the Education University only took half a day to find that it was bitumen.
When the media asked why it had taken the government so long, Wong said the Water Supplies Department had collected 126 samples, which meant there was '10 times more [testing] work' than usual. One could almost hear the angry game show buzzer that goes off for a wrong answer. Residents' safety, not the department's workload, should clearly have been the first priority here.
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