Skip to main content

EPD takes action on concrete plants

The Environmental Protection Department said it does not tolerate concrete batching plants operating without a licence and will make every effort to stop any illegal operations.   The department made the statement in response to media reports yesterday of a concrete batching plant at 20 Tung Yuen Street in Yau Tong continuing to operate without holding a valid Specified Process Licence (SPL).   The department has been closely monitoring the operation of two plants, both owned by China Concrete. The other plant is at 22 Tung Yuen Street in Yau Tong.   Regarding the plant at 20 Tung Yuen Street, the Air Pollution Control Appeal Board dismissed an appeal lodged by China Concrete against the department’s refusal of its application for renewal of an SPL for the plant on November 22.   Under the Air Pollution Control (Specified Processes) Regulations, the plant’s SPL ceased to be valid with immediate effect and the department issued a letter requesting that all works be halte

A new space to build great ideas

Alex Jiang made the bold decision to leave his home on the Mainland and move to Hong Kong alone last year to work as an engineer for the Nano & Advanced Materials Institute at the Science Park.   When he arrived in Hong Kong, Mr Jiang had to live in a hotel which cost him about $9,000 a month. After the Science Park opened InnoCell this year, he chose to rent a single room there for about $7,000 per month.   He stays at InnoCell with his colleagues and credits the co-working and co-living space with helping him adapt to his new life in Hong Kong.   “At the beginning, I decided to stay in a hotel along with most of my colleagues. Then I found out InnoCell offered a cheaper monthly rent and is much closer to our office. So my colleagues and I decided to move in.   “The bonus is since I do not have many friends in Hong Kong, I am able to ask my colleagues for help and we can support each other. Now, on the weekends, we cook together as well as exercise in the gym.”   Affordable accommodation The 17-storey InnoCell provides over 500 beds. Apart from the Science Park's company founders, Mainland or overseas employees, it is also open to visiting academics, scientists and technology talent.   InnoCell’s monthly rent is set at around 60% of the market price of a similar property in the neighbourhood. There are four types of units: single, twin, family and THE POWERHUB.   THE POWERHUB, with eight individual studios plus a private working area, is an ideal space for a project team to assemble and brainstorm.   Collaborative community It is not all work and no play at InnoCell. There is a 30,000 sq ft public area that includes meeting rooms, a library, and a gym and fitness centre, offering tailored communal facilities for the tenants.   Henry Adenusi travelled all the way from the UK and is working as a researcher for a Science Park company. He also rents an InnoCell unit.   He believes the design of the living spaces provides like-minded innovation and technology (I&T) talent with the chance to mingle and develop a collaborative community.   “This helps to spark creativity. And in terms of other interactions I have had, it is meeting other people, whether it is cooking in the kitchen or while reading or in the gym.   “So it is interesting to meet other people from different backgrounds, who work in different companies. I think this is a good chance also for networking.”   Innovation culture InnoCell represents a major step forward in the Science Park’s ambition to build a vibrant I&T ecosystem for Hong Kong which brings together talent, culture and infrastructure in an environment geared for innovation which can generate wider economic benefits to the city, explained Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation Chief Project Development Officer Simon Wong.   “At InnoCell, we try to create a lot of co-creation space to bring the tenants together. In this space, they can foster collaboration and networking through working together, living together,” Mr Wong added.   The InnoCell project is Hong Kong’s first high-rise building to adopt modular integrated construction or MiC technology, which enables off-site manufacturing in a prefabrication factory, followed by on-site installation, thereby speeding up construction.   Through this method, 418 MiC modules with high-performance materials were installed, serving as a blueprint and modernisation path for Hong Kong’s construction industry.
http://dlvr.it/S64vb0

Popular posts from this blog

Legal officer changes proposed

The Government has proposed to amend the law to allow legal officers of the Department of Justice to be appointed as a senior counsel.   At a media session after attending a Legislative Council meeting today, Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng explained the rationale behind the Government's proposal.   She said: “Why is it that my colleagues in the Department of Justice - who by their qualifications are solicitors but are actually arguing very well and very efficiently with great eloquence and efficacy in the Court of Final Appeal - are not being recognised when they are actually even better than their counterparts? That has always been something that sometimes troubles me.   “And for that reason, I have always been thinking about how we are going to overcome that problem.   “Now, what really triggers my determination to take this further forward is when one of our Deputy Directors of Public Prosecutions, Vinci Lam, took silk on May 29.   “That really showed that the form

124 COVID-19 cases reported

The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating 124 additional COVID-19 cases. More cases were detected in Kwai Chung Estate. There are also more than 70 preliminary positive cases.   Among the newly reported cases, 33 are related to Kwai Chung Estate, bringing the total number of positive and preliminary positive cases in the estate to 276.   One more positive case was found after an earlier confirmed case occurred at Glory Court, Tsuen Wan Garden, both of them live in units 5 but on two different floors. The centre has co-ordinated with related government departments and conducted an inspection today.    It was preliminarily considered that vertical transmission of virus via pipes is involved.   The centre will issue quarantine orders to residents of unit 5 on all floors of the building who resided there during the incubation period of the relevant cases and transfer them to a quarantine facility.   As it is possible that virus might be ejected from the open

CE to meet Congo president

Chief Executive John Lee will meet Democratic Republic of Congo President FĂ©lix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo at Government House tomorrow, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government announced today.   The Congo president is in the People’s Republic of China for a state visit and will arrive in Hong Kong for a two-day trip. http://dlvr.it/Spnmcs