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be certain that it is efficiently organized. I am glad that our Chairman has endorsed this view in reply to Mr. CHEONG-LEEN's question raised earlier in this meeting.
In the Statement under the heading "Abattoirs", I must agree with Alison BELL. It states that the final sketch plans for Cheung Sha Wan have been received and it is to be hoped that they will not take as long to come to fruition as have the ones of Kennedy Town. Last year the Honourable C. Y. KWAN brought this matter to the fore and I will do no more than to reiterate the absolute necessity of replacing the existing slaughterhouses, both in Hong Kong and Kowloon, with modern installations incorporating the latest ideas, as the existing abattoirs are rapidly reaching, if they have not already reached, their full capacity and improvisation is no longer possible. I heartily endorse the "Summary of the Council's main aims for the year 1961/2 under the heading "Abattoirs", to ensure that a start be made in the building of the new abattoirs THIS YEAR”.
Four years ago the Hawkers Report was published and has become our authorized version in that it has been passed by the Governor in Council and it is difficult to make revisions, although the circumstances have changed since the publication of that well-prepared report, and a new translation will be proposed. One of the ideas was that Hawkers should be confined to certain areas, an admirable idea, and that, in addition, the Hawkers Control Unit should be responsible for seeing that all regulations were adhered to by Hawkers in those areas. Firstly by explaining what all the regulations mean, and I am glad to say that the Control Unit has already started on this aspect and, then only, secondly, and as a last resort, by taking legal action. However, although the Unit has power over hawkers, licensed or unlicensed, outside those areas, it is the intention that they will be confined solely to the specified areas and also certain functions have been delegated to the overseers. It is important that there should be unified control over hawkers in the whole of the Colony and a method must be devised whereby the Police, who are responsible for hawkers outside the areas specified in the Hawkers Report, follow the same pattern as the Hawkers Control Unit, who work under the overall guidance of the Hawkers Executive Committee.
Last year, Mr. Y. K. KAN advocated a policy whereby eventually the number of hawkers' licences issued of all kinds should be reduced so as to free workers for more productive employment. This is a point which must be borne in mind in the "new translation" and that hawkers should be confined to bazaars and eventually removed from the streets altogether. In a modern industrial community such as Hong Kong, we should not necessarily allow medieval anachronisms to remain. It would appear that in spite of Mr. BERNACCHI's ultimate aim in relation to the hawker question and mine apparently being different, it is a long-term problem and we shall be sitting together on the Hawkers Select Committee for some time to come, working amicably, our views only apparently diverging at the Annual Debate.
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Under City Cleansing reference is made to the fact that part of the refuse is brought by road to Gin Drinkers Bay refuse dump and part by barge; it cannot be that the refuse brought by barge is thrown overboard on the way to Gin Drinkers Bay, so that the refuse found floating in the Harbour and in the Colony waters must come from the dump itself.
Besides being a constant source of danger to our mechanized fishing craft and other vessels running in our busy harbour, the floating refuse would reflect on the efficiency of our administration. I would therefore appeal to the requisite authority to build the other half of the breakwater or devise some means to prevent the waters of Hong Kong from being polluted from this source any further. An important angle in this case also is the health factor in relation to the many users of the beaches in the Colony.
Before I close, I would like to suggest that if the proposed Lottery is accepted, then the funds should be put into housing as capital. In saving the interest charged, for instance, to the Housing Authority and Housing Society rents could be reduced by over one third and so would have an immediate and beneficial effect on a large section of the public.
With these remarks, Mr. Chairman, I have much pleasure in supporting the Motion.
MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, as the last Civic-Reform Coalition member to speak at this Annual Conventional Debate, it has devolved upon me to speak on two vital subjects, namely, constitutional advance and Government's resettlement and public housing programme. I assure you, Sir, that I shall not speak longer or too much longer than the Appointed Member from Kowloon, Mr. A. de O. SALES, my Jaycees counterpart across the table.
In speaking on constitutional advance, I propose to be brief. It is by now well-known that the Civic-Reform Coalition was formed to bring about moderate constitutional changes: eight more elected members in the Urban Council, and eight elected members in the Legislative Council. This moderate platform is opposed by a few who wish to preserve the status quo and who I fear have little faith in the future of Hong Kong and its citizens.
Constitutional advance is bound to come; that is an absolute certainty! We in the Civic-Reform Coalition are responsibly concerned that constitutional changes will be neither too rapid nor too slow. At this time, we are concerned that despite the tremendous economic and social dynamic witnessed within the past ten years, there has been
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