Poles Apart
Opposition to unsightly poles erected in October 2006 along Clearwater Bay Road by Hutchison Telecom to extend its mobile phone coverage resulted in not only a halt to the work but an agreement to moving the telephone cables underground. As reported in the SCMP on 27 November - a spokesperson said "Hutchison has proposed relocating some of the poles to "shield areas" and painting them green. The company will also convert some of the telephone poles to underground ducts".
However - the CWB resident, Ian Longbon, has spotted notices up to announce that the poles are going back up. Here's his letter:
Dear Editor,
Some months ago the SCMP published a story about Hutchison erecting telegraph poles along the Clear Water Bay Road for its mobile phone network. Following an outcry from local residents, work ceased and several telegraph poles in the vicinity of the Pik Sha Road were removed. However it seems that the threat has re-appeared.
Recently, notices have been posted that this work is to recommence. Following a complaint to the District Lands Office, I was contacted by Hutchison’s representative from Alcatel Lucent, presumably the contractors on this project.
Apparently, burying the cables under the road/pavement presents Alcatel Lucent with insurmountable “technical difficulties”. However, these technical difficulties could not be discussed for “commercial” reasons. In any event, I was told, the Clear Water Bay was too narrow to dig up! I wonder how other services have managed to lay and service their infrastructure?
I was also told that as telegraph poles are used in other parts of Hong Kong and were quite common in Japan, what were the grounds for my complaint? A telegraph pole is, apparently, more environmentally friendly than a buried cable.
Despite arranging a meeting with Alcatal Lucent to discuss their proposals some three weeks ago, late last week Alcatal Lucent unilaterally cancelled this meeting for no apparent reason.
I am afraid that unless others complain to the District Lands Office, the telegraph poles will continue to go up and ruin the country-side atmosphere of this rather special area of Hong Kong.
Yours,
Ian Longbon |
If you feel passionately about this issue, here are the appropriate contacts for you:
District Lands Officer (SK) Ms. CHOW Man Yee, Doris Tel: 2791 7010 Fax: 2792 0706 |
Sai Kung District Officer CHNA Ping Fai, Peter, JP Tel: 2163 9488 Fax: 2792 9440 |