1-K Standard 22/10/21
Shock move over Urbco officials
THE movement for local government reforms
took
a
shock twist several yesterday when
Urban Councillors called for the retention of the six official Urbco members to "preserve the prestige and usefulness" of the council.
The appeal was made by the Civic Association, one of Hongkong's major political parties whose executive officers occupy five of the 10 elected seats on Urbco.
Civic's request comes after years of hard campaigning for wider powers for Urbco, including the withdrawal of
the six official members at a later stage.
In a critical statement, Civic said
10-point
the six
withdrawal of the Government members seemed "premature and hasty.”
Division
"It could easily lead to a sharp division between elected and appointed members over responsibility for decisions and actions to be taken by the council," it stated.
Such a situation would be in keeping with the traditional colonial policy of "divide-and-rule,' it warned.
""
an
Civic said it also feared that withdrawal of the officials would create a gap in vision" and called it "'unwise attempt" to downgrade the stature and Urbco as there would be no Government officials to explain policies associated with the council's statutory responsibilities.
as
It urged that Urban Services Director, Mr D.R.W. Alexander, be retained Urbco's chairman to allow him to continue speaking for the council in the Legislative Council.
The six official members, including Mr Alexander, will
be withdrawn from the council under proposals in the White Paper on Urban Council reforms.
Civic contends it would be more practicable for the Government to delay the officials' withdrawal for two years.
Prestige
"Their continued presence at this stage will in point of fact preserve the prestige and usefulness of the Urban Council in the eyes of the public," it stated.
Civic labelled the White Paper "a document of limited
scope of the council.
Civic charged that the Paper restricted instead of
Urbco's expanding
scope under the guise of giving the council financial autonomy.
Under the White Paper it is proposed to assign the council a portion of the rates and allow it to raise its own
revenue.
But Civic believes it would be more justified if the council was given a share of the huge annual budget surpluses for major capital projects.
Civic also charged that the Government was using the council as a "front" to raise the rates.
AMERICAN-OWNED AND ODED ATEN