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well as inspecting restaurants and other things. We have gone into the question of staff requirements at considerable length in Select Committee but I am still far from being convinced that we are unable to train more inspectors than we are doing at present. May I point out, Mr. Chairman, that when nations were at war in World War II millions of troops had been trained in one year, and the last war does not require me to point out that it was not fought and won with bows and arrows but with highly mechanized weapons, I therefore urge that the matter should be reviewed and more inspectors be taken on for training.
The main thoroughfares of the Colony are kept reasonably clean but the side streets in many areas are far from satisfactory. The experience of conservancy has taught us that the cost of human labour is increasing, and therefore impels me to recommend the use of more street cleansing vehicles. At present there are 6 vehicles in use and 6 more on order. It seems to me that for the size of the Colony and the need to wash our streets more frequently we need at least double that number. As the Colony is still not free from water restriction I wonder why the question of anti-corrosion chemicals added to sea water is not more energetically pursued and sea water not being used to wash our streets. Since water is such a precious article in Hong Kong I hope my friend the Honourable Director of Public Works might follow up the American method of de-salting sea water which has been brought down as cheaply as 50¢ per 1,000 gallons for the benefit of water-hungry Hong Kong.
Unless the Government is committed to undertake slum clearance of our slum areas whatever we do at the Urban Council level is simply nibbling at the problem of health. When more than half of the urban population are living in conditions of squalor no amount of house inspection or even house cleansing will materially improve the sanitary conditions of most of our over-crowded and dilapidated tenements. This problem has occupied the attention of the health authorities as long ago as when Dr. Wellington was the D.M.S. in the early thirties. If Government does not want to miss the bus, now is the time to enlist the aid of private capital to develop these slums. Since the Government has committed itself to building a hospital every 2 years it is just as important, if not more important, that the cured patients should have decent places to go after being discharged from hospital. If the living conditions are bad in the homes I doubt very much whether any amount of clinics or hospitals could solve our medical problem. The extra housing to be provided by the Housing Authority per se will not solve Hong Kong's housing problem in the immediate future because it takes years to make any appreciable headway on account of sites, difficult site formation, water and drainage problems. To solve our housing needs the two programmes must operate hand in hand. When the next reclamation is completed I hope the Government would have plans for decanting centres to initiate a slum clearance programme. Government must take the initiative to enact the necessary legislations to deal with the complicated question of land leases, rentals, tenants and other allied matters before private capital could hope to participate in such a scheme. As urban dwellers tend to prefer living in the city for the sake of economy and convenience it is right and proper that vertical development of the old sites should be exploited to its fullest possible extent. Not only some open space would be created thereby but there would be no expensive site formation and road preparation to be incurred. Since it is unlikely that the new Housing Department or the Town Planning Section would have the staff to undertake a project of this nature and size.
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I urge the Government to engage outside firms to undertake the job. Unless we solve the twin problems of slum clearance and housing I can see no improvement in our urban health standards.
It seems to me, Mr. Chairman, that the health aspect in places of public entertainment—such as cinemas, dance halls and dancing schools—where large numbers of people congregate together is just as important as, if not more important than the question of law enforcement. As nearly all these places are provided with mechanical and/or air-conditioning in most months of the year the problem becomes more important than ever because the chance of spreading air-borne infections is more serious here than elsewhere. The Air-conditioning Select Committee has gone into this question very thoroughly. I believe the need for early implementation of this Select Committee's proposals for controlling air-conditioning in places of public entertainment and the like, and the necessity for the early implementation of existing proposals to make the Urban Council the central licensing authority for all types of licences is an opportune one.