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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
houses (Close to 10 years now I believe). There will probably be some entirely new method of slaughtering cattle long before the plans are completed. Just as we shall probably all be travelling in Helicopters or Spacecopters before a car park is produced in Kowloon!
On your behalf I have urged that when new push button traffic lights are installed next (financial) year that they should be installed where they are to be of most use, that is at the points where the greatest number of pedestrians cross the streets which have heavy traffic flow, and not merely where those lights would look good from the appearance point of view. After all public money is being spent on these lights and therefore the maximum benefit to the public must result from their installation at suitable busy points.
Our numbers of parks and playgrounds are lagging badly behind what we had hoped for, planned for, and expected to have by now. This is not because funds are not available or that decisions are awaited by Council but because these projects are not being given the priority which should be their due in the public works programme and this is quite a crime, a crime against the health of our young populace who have so little space for recreation and breathing some fresh air. At the same time, I think our existing parks and playgrounds fall far short of what they should be. They are for the most part extremely ugly and purely utilitarian for active recreation, but for restful recreation and pleasing appearance we have nothing to offer and we have no excuse. We have the funds and we have a Superintendent of Gardens, we have an abundance of beautiful and varied flowers which grow easily and prolifically in the Colony and we have the existing parks and playgrounds which could do with a great deal of beautification with flowers. Not just flowering shrubs but flowers. How utterly uninspired and unimaginative is every park and playground. I implore you, Mr. Chairman, that better use should be made of our Superintendent of Gardens and his able staff and that we should attempt this year to start some floral decoration of our open areas.
One final remark, Mr. Chairman, which I have not mentioned above, is that there should be no "blinking" lights throughout the urban area for the sake of the health of the populace, because these areas are not only commercial areas but are also residential areas. I think to have lights which blink all the time would be extremely detrimental to the health of the populace.
With these remarks, Mr. Chairman, I support the motion before us to-day. (Applause).
(At the suggestion of the Chairman, a brief recess was held at this point).
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MR. WILFRED S. B. WONG:- Mr. Chairman, this is the third annual occasion at which I have had the opportunity of reviewing the work of the Urban Council and I am speaking on the subjects of administration, multi-storey buildings, the hawkers problem and the City Hall.
In singling out these problems it does not mean that I am unaware of the achievements and the progress which were made by the Council during the last few years in the field of urban amenities in particular and improvement in administration in general. They represent a few specific fields in which we could develop to make the 10,000 men Urban Services Department one of the best administered municipal departments in the world.
Administration
On the matter of administration, there are still remarks made by the public about the malpractices of the health inspectors. Having mentioned these issues in previous years and being interested in administration I have gone into this matter carefully and come to the conclusion that while there are a number of cases in the last two years where the health inspectors could have taken advantage of the special knowledge of regulations and details, corruption in the Urban Services Department is certainly not general and very much kept in check.
A few inspectors have been reported to have obtained certain personal gains to the detriment of public health and the Government. With the check and balance system whereby the select committees do issue, reject, and cancel licences, the power of the inspector is reduced to reporting and therefore there are now very few cases where opportunity presents for malpractices.
I have advocated and also noted that the delegated members of the select committees concerned personally visit any restaurants, bakeries, laundries, or fixed pitch stalls if their licences are to be cancelled for reasons of violation of public health regulations. This modus operandi, I believe, is the greatest deterrent to malpractices.
In previous years, I have advocated an examination on ethics as a standard of admission for the employment of inspectors. With the existing inspectors, I believe, recurrent staff talks on the proper attitude of Government servants should be continued to keep the few stray sheep on the right track.
I am confident that we will be able to attain the high standards of the Department for which we are aiming. You have, Mr. Chairman, received all suggestions and criticism with a completely open mind and that accounts for the very good team work which we now have in the Council,
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