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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Finally, Mr. Chairman, I would like to congratulate you and your staff on the excellent efforts which you have made during the past year in keeping our streets clean, and in providing better health and sanitation conditions for the public. But in congratulating you, Mr. Chairman, and the staff, it does not, I hope, deter you from redoubling your efforts to better serve the public. I am not suggesting, however, that, as noticed in today's Chinese papers, Council should continue to sue the wrong persons. (Applause).
MR. Y. K. KAN:- After the last "brief" speech we have just heard, I was going to ask whether there is somewhere in Standing Orders which permits a short recess. However, it looks as if we cannot, so I will proceed with my speech.
Mr. Chairman, this year the appointed members have agreed among themselves each to speak on different subjects. My subjects are hawkers, conservancy, and basement subjects which I notice very uninteresting, no previous speakers have seen fit to mention.
Sir, hawker control remains one of the most intricate and perplexing problems which confront this Council. My colleagues on the Council will not, I think, disagree that this aspect of Council's work takes up a great deal of time and energy both on the part of Council members as well as the staff of the Urban Services Department, perhaps more so than any other business of the Council.
We have been criticized for being harsh and unsympathetic towards the hawkers. We have also been criticized for being too tolerant. These criticisms are often unjustified as they are usually based on half truths and at times even deliberate distortion of facts.
One criticism which appeared in the local press recently does seem to me to be justified. It is in regard to Council's insistence on the hawker's personal attendance at the Council's offices for the renewal of his licence. In my opinion, what little advantage to be gained thereby as a means of checking that the licensed hawker himself does trade on his pitch is offset by the unnecessary hardship and inconvenience it causes to him and the extra work it entails on the part of the staff.
During the year the Hawkers (Executive) Select Committee has been called upon frequently to perform the unpleasant task of taking disciplinary actions for breaches of the bye-laws. I notice that there is a growing tendency for this Council to invoke its powers of suspension not only with regard to hawkers but also in other cases, for instance, restaurants. I think that we should resort to these powers sparingly and only in cases where public interest absolutely demands. As far as is possible all contraventions of the bye-laws should be dealt with by the Courts. The fact that prosecutions may be time-consuming or that the punishment meted out may not be as we would desire is not, in my view, legitimate ground for us to bypass the Courts.
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And yet, in all frankness, I must admit that at times prosecutions do lead to curious results. My attention has been drawn, for instance, to the case involving two licensees of cooked food stalls who despite one previous suspension of their licences continued to flout the law almost daily, so much so that they were prosecuted no less than 105 and 100 times respectively in the Magistrate's Court during a period of 12 months. In consequence of their failure to pay the fines imposed a total of 98 and 91 warrants of arrest respectively were issued. When they were ultimately brought before the Magistrate, one was discharged and the other was sentenced to one day's imprisonment. Is it any wonder that, despite the strenuous efforts on the part of the staff and the Police, many areas in Hong Kong and Kowloon are so infested with hawkers and their paraphernalia that streets are made impassable for motor and even pedestrian traffic.
Reference has been made in the Statement to the success of the Sherriff-Baker system of mechanized nightsoil collection which is at present operated only in the central district and to the decision to extend the scheme in stages to the remaining areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon. Mention is made also to the proposals to extend the use of plastic pans to domestic premises receiving conservancy service under the scheme. It was suggested that these plastic pans should be supplied free of charge to householders as part of the service. It is hoped that this suggestion will ultimately receive Government's favourable consideration as the advantage to be gained from the standpoint of public health justifies the extra expenditure.
Early on this year the Conservancy Select Committee approved in principle the recommendation that all licensed premises should have flush toilets and all licensees of licensed premises have been informed that, in the near future, they would be required to instal flush toilets in their premises and that they should now go into the feasibility of so doing, so as to be prepared to act on the Council's instructions when required to do so. This is the first step towards realization of the hope that eventually every premises in the urban area should, wherever possible, be served by flush toilet system. Investigations revealed that there are 267 licensed premises in Kowloon (of which 136 are restaurants and 16 are cafes) and 140 in Hong Kong still using dry pail latrines which could without any difficulty be converted to flush latrines. The desirability of having flushing water closets in food handling premises is unquestionable and I appeal to the public in general and the licensees of food premises in particular to give their
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