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# HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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effect of compelling the contractors concerned to put a sufficient number of men on the job instead of a few that we often see digging away at the road. If such a time limit is in fact already in force, consideration should then be given to reduce further the time to the absolute minimum. This can be easily accomplished by having more men on the job and by carrying out the work in the night time as well. This should also apply to road works undertaken by the Public Works Department themselves. I realize that this is a matter over which this Council has no direct control, but we should at least make representations to the Department concerned, so that effective measures may be taken to speed up the repair works and thus eliminate the nuisances.
I now come to the problem of refuse collection. This has been, more than once, thrashed out in Select Committee meetings. But despite the measures taken, the situation as regards refuse collection has seen no improvement. Refuse containers without a cover still abound in the Colony's streets every day, awaiting the arrival of the refuse collecting vehicle. Notwithstanding the fact that there were 700 prosecutions against private refuse collectors in the space of nine months during the year under review, the public do not appear to have been sufficiently deterred from repeating these offences. We also find many people using various kinds of containers and covering them up with old newspapers or some similar unsightly material. I honestly think that covering them up with these tattered pieces of paper or similar materials, even if some of them do take the trouble to do so, is never a satisfactory method of preventing flies from gaining access to the refuse and contents from spilling to the ground. Analysing the situation dispassionately, one is prompted to ask why is it that people find it so difficult to comply with these simple regulations. Is the type of container as prescribed in our Bylaws and Regulations impractical, or is it due to the fact that we are still too lenient towards offenders?
On the other aspects of public hygiene, about which Dr. Woo has also spoken, it is my opinion that, while there is no dearth of measures for dealing with offences, there seems to be a widely held belief that the Department is not tackling the problem as energetically and progressively as it should. The number of flies to be seen even in the winter months, in the better restaurants and in the so-called better class districts, year after year, without the least sign of the nuisance abated is an eloquent commentary upon the half-heartedness with which the problem is being tackled by the Department's staff, whose job it is to see that the health regulations are enforced and the breeding grounds kept in check. While it is a commendable thing to adopt a tolerant attitude towards offences of lesser importance, I should think that, in the sphere of public health, the Department would do well to display a degree of firmness, if we want to be able to point not merely to a great deal attempted, but also to a great deal accomplished, which is the important thing. In a City where civic pride is conspicuous by its absence, we cannot afford to show too much leniency towards violators of public health regulations.
Another case in point which has engaged our concern since 1958 is the one-bay restaurants in Resettlement Estates. These restaurants are a definite threat to public health due to their unhygienic conditions resulting from the gross inadequacy of kitchen facilities. As an incentive to them to enlarge the kitchen, thus permitting more space for washing up and the preparation of food, and to compensate them for the resultant loss of seating space, these restaurants were given permission to place their tables and chairs outside their premises provided that they abided with the condition to improve their kitchen facilities. The situation to-day is that, whilst they have taken full advantage of the extra seating space offered, the majority of them have done nothing to meet the requirements.
Our Select Committee has recently resolved to adopt a measure to curb outside seating, but it is at best a negative approach and offers no satisfactory solution to the basic problem. Hygienic conditions are continuing to deteriorate and the health hazards are still far from being removed. We must, therefore, draw the attention of the Resettlement Department to the need for the elimination of the existing one-bay restaurants gradually within three years, as decided recently by the Select Committee, by offering them alternative premises with two bays in the estates, and for giving priority to provisions for a sufficient number of two-bay restaurants in all new Resettlement Estates. Mr. Chairman, may we have the assurance of the Commissioner for Resettlement that these will be put into effect promptly.
Finally, may I make a plea on behalf of the children living in West Point where playgrounds are so inadequate. This is one of the most congested areas in the Colony, and I would like to see the immediate setting up of "street playgrounds" on the pattern adopted by some cities, using public or private lanes where there is no vehicular traffic. These open spaces are usually located in between blocks of buildings. I am proposing this makeshift arrangement primarily as a stop-gap measure pending the completion of the city planning and development under consideration. Indeed, in Hong Kong's circumstances, these could well be extended to other parts of the city and be a permanent feature of the Colony's amenities, as they are not costly to set up, besides meeting a pressing need.
With these remarks, Sir, I support the motion before Council.
MR. CHEUNG WING-IN:—Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for the warm welcome you have given me--it is indeed a great honour to be chosen to take a place among learned and experienced councillors
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