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of public housing over the next five years. Do I understand, Mr. Chairman, from your reply that we hope to solve our housing problem or the problem of overcrowding five years hence?
CHAIRMAN: --I think that the gist of the reply on the housing programme, which was made at the last meeting of this Council by my friend, the Director of Public Works, was that it is hoped to ameliorate the housing position over the next five years.
MR. WATSON:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask a supplementary? Do you not consider that to proceed along the lines of throwing people out of their homes on the grounds of overcrowding, without being able to offer any alternative accommodation, would make this Council and its Members extremely unpopular and that this would be a bad thing in an election year? (Laughter).
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, I would be very happy to answer that, because I was just about to suggest that if it does come to a situation where people who are living in grossly overcrowded premises should have to be considered by this Council to vacate their premises, then they ought to be given accommodation by the Resettlement Department.
MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:-
I have received complaints from certain residents living in the Shek Kip Mei Resettlement Estate that the covered Hawker Bazaar there is not being extensively used for the purpose for which it was built, and that it is often used as a meeting place for drug addicts and pedlars:
(a) Has the Commissioner received similar complaints recently?
(b) Will the Commissioner look into the suggestion from several residents in the Estate that this hawker bazaar be converted into a children's covered play centre?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
Although no specific complaints regarding this bazaar have been received recently, it is well known that the bazaar has never been popular. It is situated in the north-east corner of the Estate, in probably the least populated and most out-of-the-way part of the whole area. In contrast, the open bazaar in the centre of the Estate is far more popular.
Despite the unpopularity of the roofed bazaar, I am not in favour at this stage of converting it into a children's playground. Considerable development is now taking place
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to the north of the bazaar, for the construction of low-cost housing. When this development is completed, the roofed bazaar will then lie in the centre of a much more populated district and it may be that its volume of business will improve. In May 1961, the Hawkers Select Committee endorsed this view and decided to reconsider the matter after the area had been redeveloped.
Neither the Commissioner for Resettlement nor the Commissioner of Police have any recent information that drug addicts make use of the covered bazaar as a meeting place.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, I do not want to ask a supplementary question from the Commissioner for Resettlement, because he only came back from Japan a few days ago. So I would like to ask a question from you, Sir. Since this question was sent in to the Secretary, Urban Council, do you know whether investigations have been made either by the Resettlement Department or by the Commissioner of Police as to whether this roofed bazaar was being used by addicts?
CHAIRMAN:-The information conveyed to you, Sir, in the third paragraph of the reply was given to me by the Resettlement Department. MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-In other words, Sir, no investigation was made?
CHAIRMAN:-I have no reason to doubt that an investigation was made. The information given by the Resettlement Department was that "Neither the Commissioner for Resettlement nor the Commissioner of Police have any recent information that drug addicts make use of the covered bazaar as a meeting place."
MR. FUNG HON-CHU asked the following question :-
Will the Chairman please inform this Council whether the Government is carrying out routine bacteriological counts of water from public swimming pools other than those under the management of this Council? If not, would it not be in the interest of the public to apply this routine measure to these public pools as well?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
These tests are made approximately once a month on all licensed swimming pools during the period in which they are open. At the same time as the bacteriological examination, a chemical test is carried out to ensure that there is an adequate concentration of chlorine in the water.
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