Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Water Quality Advisories for Oil and Chemical Spills

Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Water Quality Advisories for Oil and Chemical Spills

Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment whether the Ministry will consider (i) reflecting information on the presence of pollutants from oil and chemical spills in its water quality advisories for popular recreational beaches that are published on the NEA website and (ii) placing regularly updated physical signages with water quality advisories at popular recreational beaches.

Answer:

1 The National Environment Agency (NEA) regularly publishes information on the water quality at popular recreational beaches on NEA’s website and the myENV mobile application. These include advisories indicating whether a beach is suitable for primary contact activities (i.e swimming) during pollution incidents which might impact the water quality at our beaches. Such advisories take into account the possible presence of pollutants related to the pollution incident. In addition, when necessary, NEA places physical signages advising the public against swimming at affected beaches.

2 We encourage the public to check the NEA website or the myENV mobile application for the most updated information on the water quality of recreational beaches.