ELIZABETH CHEUNGelizabeth.cheung@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 27 August, 2015, 1:04pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 27 August, 2015, 2:21pm
Protesters wants action on lead in water at schools. Photo: Nora Tam
Protesters gathered this morning to demand water tests in every school in Hong Kong after the city’s lead-in-water scandal spread beyond housing estates to educational establishments.
As an interdepartmental meeting took place to discuss the latest developments, members of the Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood, the Democratic Party and Drinking Water Victims Alliance made their call outside the government offices in Admiralty.
Concern that drinking water in schools may be tainted with lead arose on August 21, when a sample from St Thomas’s Primary, Sham Shui Po, was found to contain the heavy metal at four times the World Health Organisation’s safety level. Concern grew on Wednesday when water from St Francis of Assisi’s Caritas School, Shek Kip Mei, was found to have lead at 21 times the WHO safety level.
READ MORE: emergency measures at school after lead is found in drinking water
The 20 or so protesters urged the government to help schools affected, including offering tests on water and pipes, blood tests for pupils and staff, and installing water filters. Water tests should also be extended to public facilities such as hospitals.
A government source said the meeting, chaired by Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, would end before lunch.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1852985/protect-our-children-call-action-after-excessive
