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HEALTH
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the resources available. The policy has now been endorsed by the Governor in Council and, as a result, it is expected that substantial increases in staff and resources will be available in 1972. The hawker liaison section has continued to consolidate its position and has built up satisfactory relationships with government departments. Work on the collection and classification of data relating to hawkers also continued. The section is now involved with an in-depth survey which is being conducted by the Social Research Centre of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, with funds provided by the Government.
The Hawker Control Force has a total strength of about 350 officers and men, and they are all deployed on hawker control work on Hong Kong Island; (in Kowloon, the police still remain the sole authority for hawker control). The Government intends to build up the force by a phased programme of expansion which will enable it to extend its coverage to all the hawker areas in Hong Kong and Kowloon and eventually the New Territories, but this will take a few years. Plans to improve the conditions of service and so enhance its recruiting attractions are still under consideration.
Two modern abattoirs are in operation: one at Kennedy Town on Hong Kong Island, and the other at Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon. Each complex, including a wholesale livestock market and quarantine service, can handle 3,000 pigs and 300 cattle in an eight-hour work- ing day.
The New Territories Division of the Urban Services Department is fully and directly responsible for environmental hygiene, cleansing, hawkers and markets. It is headed by an administrative officer who works in close liaison with the Medical and Health Department and the various District Officers of the New Territories Administration. He has a total staff strength of over 1,800 in the five political districts of Tsuen Wan, Tai Po, Yuen Long, Sai Kung and Islands, and their duties are divided geographically rather than regionally.
Eleven public cemeteries (of which two are closed) and three public crematoria are directly controlled by the Urban Services Department, and 28 private cemeteries and one private crematorium are under its general supervision. Three funeral parlours and 31 undertakers are licensed by the Urban Council to arrange funeral services. In addition, the Government provides two funeral depots which are open 24-hours a day for the holding of reposing services and last rites. These also arrange for the transportation of deceased persons in coffins to a public cemetery or crematorium for interment or cremation; such services are free of charge.