MR. HUI:
DRAFT SPEECH BY HON HUI YIN FAT LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 16/3.88
Housing (Amendment) Bill 1988
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I have long waited for this opportunity to express my views on a topic concerning the livelihood of some 2.5 million people in Hong Kong. Indeed, housing, being one major social issue in Hong Kong, has always been the centre of public controversy. Of the 340 new cases about the Housing Department brought to the Complaints Unit of the OMELCO in 1987, 238 or 70 per cent of them were related to housing policies. It is evident that the need for more citizen participation in the formulation of our housing policies is long overdue.
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However, the Housing (Amendment) Bill, which gives effect to the reorganization of the Housing Authority has failed to achieve this objective. For with the reorganization, the appointment of an unofficial to be the Chairman is about the only major change in the structure of the Housing Authority membership. One would have hoped that an overall
re structuring of the Housing Authority would bring about some elected members as well as appointed members who represent a wider spectrum of the public housing population.
This brings up the whole question of the effectiveness of government's consultative machinery and procedures. Following the Long Term Housing Strategy Debate last year, Members of the OMELCO Housing Panel have requested, and the Administration has promised, that the panel would be consulted on the reorganization of the Housing Authority before the legislative proceedings. The fact that the Administration failed to keep its promise by submitting the reorganization proposal directly to the Executive Council and by-passing the Housing Panel has turned the Panel into a tool for rubber
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