trading funds for some departments, including the Drainage Services Department. The Drainage Services Department
is responsible for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of sewerage, sewage treatment and disposal, and stormwater drainage systems in Hong Kong. After years of discussion, a trading fund was introduced in 1994 in the department for the provision of sewage services. The fund helps to recover the cost of operating and maintaining the public sewerage systems. The main reason for the establishment of this trading fund is to facilitate the "polluter pays" charging scheme. By using the sewage charges paid to the fund for financing operations of the Drainage Services Department, it was hoped that the arrangement would increase the transparency of operational performance
within the department and allow it greater flexibility in
matching its service levels against consumer demand.