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you already receive a sufficiently large volume of paper matter dealing with them. Even if one member may have lost interest in works such as, for example, the City Hall, Swimming Pools and Markets, I am sure that others in this Council have not.
To revert to the question of a Highway Authority; the Highway problem is not solely a question of traffic or provision of car parks, as some people seem to think. Traffic and highways pose the same question as the old one of the chicken and the egg—which comes first? In the new areas being opened up for development the roads come first and traffic follows; thus, initially, town planning is one of the fundamental needs. In the older parts of the City it is all too obvious that traffic in the form of rickshaws and sedan chairs came first. In such old areas the ideal solution would be to re-plan the areas but our first tentative proposals to accomplish this met with determined resistance and we therefore have to fall back on some compromise; it is there, as much as anywhere, that it becomes apparent that a team is needed, a team which requires the services of a town planner, engineers (particularly with experience in roads, traffic, drainage and sewerage), an expert on finance, a Legal Officer, a Police Officer, an Estate Surveyor and others. I believe that matters requiring long study, research and investigation should be directed by people who have special qualifications for and devote their whole time to their section of the subject; this, I think, is basically where Mr. BERNACCHI and I differ.
It is difficult to understand the Member's object in bringing this up for further debate at this stage. The subject was debated at least twice in Standing Committee a few months ago and a Report by a Sub-committee—appointed largely at the instigation of Mr. BERNACCHI—was tabled in September and approved by a majority of Members, including Mr. BERNACCHI. The report, Page 4, paragraph 18, recommended the formation of a Highway Authority and its constitution. It did NOT recommend that the Urban Council be the Highway Authority; quite the contrary, it recommended a number of just these people whom Mr. BERNACCHI now wishes divested of these powers.
If he was acquiescent then why is he so trenchant now?
The next statement by my friend was, I quote, “And the whole idea of a Highway Authority shows signs of degenerating into some sub-committee of the Public Works Department”; to this I can only assure him that should such signs and portents exist anywhere but in his own mind they would be most unwelcome to me.
Finally, Mr. Bernacchi asked "Should the Murray Parade Ground go to auction as a hotel site". The answer possibly is “No”, and I for one would be happy to see anyone compete in the bidding to buy the site for any other purpose which would fulfil the conditions pertaining to development in that part of the City. There are no grounds however, for excluding a hotel.
In reply to Mr. Hilton CHEONG-LEEN who says he has sought to table questions to learn of Government's specific intentions to provide enough recreation space for the public in the released Naval Dockyard lands; I can assure him that recreation space is not being forgotten in the planning. The public has been invited to submit suggestions for the development of the released land and, apart from the Government plans in course of preparation, I know that at least one Society has proposals. The Town Planning Board has decided on the broad principles it is proposed to follow. Beyond that I submit that we cannot be "specific" until we have at least an outline plan to discuss. As to whether the space will be "enough" it is fairly safe to say it will not because there never is enough in Hong Kong.
May I say to Members in general that my Department has very many client Departments besides Urban Services and it is somewhat difficult to satisfy all or even one. I assure you however that we are constantly at your service; we have no option in the face of the lively pressure unremittingly applied by this Council.
THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF HEALTH SERVICES:- Mr. Chairman, in rising to support the motion I am glad to have the opportunity to refer to some of the matters raised by unofficial members. Not all of these, I am afraid, are directly concerned with the work of the Urban Services Department and consequently in some cases I cannot give any official reply other than to say that the views of members are doubtless being studied by the departments concerned.
At least two members referred to the need for intensified concentration on Health Education. I am in full agreement with them on this point and shall be most grateful for all suggestions put forward in the Health Education Select Committee. We do need to press forward in this matter. During the year at least one significant step forward has been taken with the formation of an Interdepartmental Committee on Health Education, with the primary object of intensifying the drive to get children immunized against the more serious epidemic diseases, and in particular diphtheria. The results, while not as spectacular as we might have wished, have given grounds for hope that in time we may rid Hong Kong of this disease. During the period 1st October, 1959–31st March, 1960, 380,813 injections were given, as compared with 187,140 during the same period in the previous year, and the campaign is still continuing. Another field in which Health Education has been markedly successful is the inoculation of new-born babies against Tuberculosis. In 1959, nearly 60% of all babies born received B.C.G. vaccine within a few days of birth, and the figure is rising steadily from year to year.
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