Streets cleaned, graffiti scrubbed ahead of Apec talks
San Francisco is pulling out all the stops to host this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders’ conference, with major streets swept clean, graffiti scrubbed off and the homeless asked to seek shelter ahead of the city's biggest international event in decades. Security zones are being set up at the Moscone Center and other summit sites. Some San Francisco residents told RTHK that the clean-up effort has been long overdue. “I think it's much better than before because now there's a lot of security, a lot of police to keep the city more safe and more clean. Of course, because before there were a lot of homeless people on the street. The street was very dirty. It felt uncomfortable and very unsafe,” said a woman surnamed Ma. Jason, who works in the downtown area, said he hopes San Francisco will be safe in the long term. “I'm not sure they're going to keep doing this in the near future. I hope they will do that. But I'm more worried about the development of the city because this is not the short-term goal for the city. I feel they should put safety as a long-term goal for the whole city and for all the citizens here,” he told RTHK. Some local businesses said they were affected by the hosting of the summit. Steven Lee, owner of the century-old Sam Wo restaurant in Chinatown, said he had to briefly shut his business as health officials ordered a clean-up of areas deemed unsanitary. “I think because maybe Apec, they want everything to be, again, super clean and very presentable. They're very picky, more particular. So there were probably some areas, somewhere they didn't like. And they just wanted us to wash down, you know, the kitchen area more,” he said. Kevin Chan runs the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory in Chinatown. “San Francisco is a world-class city. And as you walk down, pass by downtown, you have a lot of homeless there. The homeless are just hitting the city’s attractions and just hitting the residential [area]. Hopefully after Apec, it will be the same and clean like now,” he said. The week-long Apec Economic Leaders’ Week is expected to draw 20,000 visitors to San Francisco.