Visitors to Sai Wan this weekend may flinch at the sight of their beach water being polluted by a building site upstream.
Sediment-filled water from two artificial ponds under construction on Sai Kung's Tai Long Wan coast has broken past sandbag barriers, which workers abandoned this week when construction on a businessman's beachside home was halted.
The murky water is rushing past a sign reading 'Private Property' tied to a green line separating energy tycoon Simon Lo Lin-shing's land from government property. Grey with unsettled earth, it is mingling with a pristine stream and draining into Tai Long Wan's waters, at a corner of the beach beyond the village's restaurants and shower houses.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department told the Environmental Protection Department early yesterday that members of the public had complained that muddy water from the Sai Wan site was polluting streams nearby.
And beach-goers aren't the only ones at risk - environmentalists say the broken barrier may harm local fauna. Alan Leung Sze-lun, senior conservation officer at WWF Hong Kong, said rare fish could be found in a stream named Kap Man Hang inside Sai Kung East Country Park.
'Those fish often stay inside the gaps of cobbles. Too much sediment will threaten their survival as they can hardly breathe,' Leung said. He urged the government to regulate major excavation works next to country parks.
A spokeswoman for the fisheries department confirmed the stream was part of the country park. She said staff were sent to the area to check the situation yesterday. The government's fish specialists will conduct a detailed on-site inspection today.