A new drainage system will provide some relief to the flood-prone district of Sheung Wan and the government will step up inspection of other flooding black spots to gear up for the forthcoming rainy seasons.

Introducing to the media yesterday government's flood-control efforts, Director of Drainage Services K K Lau said the flooding problem across the territory has eased as a result of remedial projects and the number of black spots has been reduced to 32.

Sheung Wan, which is slightly lower than sea level, is one of the most notorious black spots.

To tackle the problem, the Drainage Services Department (DSD) is building a trench drain along the nearby Queen's Road Central to intercept 30 percent of surface runoff flowing down from the Mid-Levels, he said. The project will be completed by the end of this month before the rainy season starts.

To solve the problem in the long run, the DSD is building a pumping station and an underground storage tank to collect and channel rain water from Sheung Wan.

While the underground tank can store up to 9,000 cubic meters of water (which is as big as four Olympic standard swimming pools), the six pumps at the pumping station can channel rain water to the sea at a speed of six cubic meters per second.

The entire project will be completed in late 2009 but the storage tank can become operational before the 2009 rainy season.

"Upon completion of the projects, the low area in Sheung Wan will be ready for even the worst floods," Lau said.

Shops on Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan, which are well known for selling dried sea products, have been greatly affected by floods over the years with rain water often flowing at knee level damaging the products.

Mrs Ho, who has been operating a Chinese candy shop for about 30 years, said she hoped the projects would protect them from rainy seasons.

Another Mrs Ho from a neighboring shop selling dried aquatic products, was less upbeat.

"The rainy season this year is yet to come. We will not know if the projects really work until then," she said, adding that last year was the worst as she has sustained a financial loss of over HK$100,000.

Lau called for the cooperation from members of the public to keep drain outlets clear and refrain from littering the streets.

If people find any blocked outlets, they should report them to the DSD immediately.

(HK Edition 04/18/2008 page1)