Hong Kong's Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa inspected flood prevention works in the Northern Districtas Tropical Storm Kompasu approached Hong Kong Friday morning.

Accompanied by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport andWorks, Sarah Liao, Tung visited several families at Fung Wong Wu Village at Ta Kwu Ling, which was hard hit by flooding some years ago.

The villagers told him that their homes had been heavily flooded during past rainy seasons, and they had suffered the loss of property. They said they had felt relieved earlier this year when rainfall was low, but they remained worried about heavy rain.They hoped that the government would solve the problem of floodingsoon.

Tung promised them that the government would complete the floodprevention works as soon as possible. He was confident that the flooding problem would be solved in two years.

Flooding problems have always been a major concern of the ChiefExecutive. He called a special meeting at the end of May asking Liao and her team to brief him on the latest progress on flood prevention works in various districts. He noted that the overall flooding situation had improved. He asked Liao to speed up the works as soon as possible, in particular those in the hardest-hit areas.

Tung was concerned that flooding in certain areas in the Northern District and Kowloon remained serious. "Flooding is a long-standing problem and it cannot be resolved overnight. However,the government is determined to have the major works completed as soon as possible. We are capable of solving the problems progressively to safeguard the lives and property of citizens," hesaid.

The Hong Kong government spent 5 billion Hong Kong dollars (641million US dollars) in the past 10 years on a series of river taming and flood prevention works.