Ombudsman Winnie Chiu on Thursday called on government departments to improve their communication with each other regarding complaints about sewage problems involving village houses in the New Territories.

Chiu said the Lands Department, Environmental Protection Department and Food and Environment Hygiene Department get hundreds of complaints between them each year about things like ruptured or leaking septic tanks – issues that can lead to pollution of the city's waters and sewage being discharged into stormwater drains.

But the different departments often pass the buck when a complaint comes in, the Ombudsman said.

"For some cases, one department has obtained useful information for the enforcement, but they have not transferred such information to other department although they have referred the problems concerned to other departments. They all seem to like to refer the complaints to the other departments without realising the limitations of the other departments," said Chiu.

"Instead of shuffling the complaints of the departments, we believe that it is much better for them to cooperate and have a mechanism for information exchange to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their enforcement."

Chiu also urged the authorities to establish a cross-departmental task force to handle sewage complaints and develop comprehensive guidelines for front-line enforcers.

The Environmental Protection Department issued a response to the Ombudsman's report, saying it accepts the recommendations made.