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invitations should rightly go to UMELCO members; and also that
it would be wrong to distinguish between elected and nominated
members of Urbco. In any case at that time the Urban Council
was fully occupied with its own re-organization and with the
'Keep Hong Kong Clean' campaign. It was therefore decided to
invite a group of four UMELCO representatives in the autumn of
1972 followed by an invitation to a similar number of Urbco
members (both elected and appointed) this year. The UMELCO
visit duly took place in November 1972.
5. The Urban Council was re-organized in 1972 on the lines
of a Hong Kong Government White Paper on its reform. The aim
of the re-organization was to reduce possible areas of friction
between the Government and the Urban Council and to delineate
the Council's proper sphere of activities. In order to make this
decision more palatable to the Councillors and to the public the
Council was also given more autonomy, both financial and
otherwise, within its proper sphere. At the same time all
Official Members were removed from the Council. Membership of
the Council now consists of 12 Elected and 12 Appointed
Members, the Council being free to select its own Chairman. The
Urban Council role broadly consists of environmental public
health, including sanitation and hygiene; recreation and
amenities, including the provision of entertainment; and the
provision of cultural services. The Council also had some
responsibilities in regard to public housing but these have now
/been
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