HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
While on this subject of demolition, I would like to refer to the manner in which many old buildings are demolished, and new building works are frequently commenced, without any serious thought being given to the safety of the adjoining property. The rights of Building and Adjoining Owners are laid down in the Buildings Ordinance, 1935 (this part of the 1935 Ordinance has not been repealed), and every architect, engineer and contractor practising in Hong Kong would be well advised to study this legislation and advise their clients to proceed in the manner laid down. Architects and engineers on the Government Register are in a privileged position in that they alone are permitted to submit plans to the Building Authority, but they also have a statutory duty to supervise the building works for which they are responsible, and make such inspections as may be necessary to ensure that the building works are being carried out in general accordance with the provisions of the Buildings Ordinance. There are inherent dangers in demolition and rebuilding adjacent to old property and it is the duty of the architect or engineer in charge of the project to ensure that every precaution is taken to ensure the safety of the adjoining property.
Mr. MARDEN spoke of offensive trades. The draft Plan for Aberdeen has been published since he spoke, and the offensive trade area is well away from the main residential areas. When the Town Plan for Tsuen Wan was published there were objections to the siting of one of the offensive trade areas because of its proximity to future residential zones. As a result the plan has been amended and the offensive trade area on Tsing Yi has been increased in size, and we would like to get the bone sheds to move out there. This may not be acceptable to the industry so an area at Sham Ka Tsuen (beyond Yau Tong), and another area well to the west of the existing limits of the Kennedy Town reclamation, are being investigated. I should add that the siting of the bone sheds in either of these two large areas would be dependent on their being re-built on modern lines and equipped with modern equipment.
The boom across Gin Drinker's Bay, which was damaged by Typhoon Wanda, was replaced on 18th October, 1962. A rubble bund is now being constructed across the extremities of the refuse dump from Pillar Island towards the Taxeco Peninsula and as a result the boom has recently been resited. This work has caused a considerable improvement in conditions there.
Roads are always a problem, and in cities which are developing as fast as Hong Kong and Kowloon we all suffer to some degree the discomforts of trenches and noise, as well as hold-ups due to blasting operations, inadequate carriageway widths, and countless other causes. The glorified passing-bay on Shaukiwan Road to which Mr. MARDEN refers will, I am informed, be about 250 yards long and should greatly improve the speed of traffic moving up this stiff gradient. In Castle Peak Road a dual carriageway is being constructed between the Motion Picture Studio and Lai Chi Kok Bay.
I am grateful to Mr. FUNG Hon-chu for recognizing the fact that the digging up of roads is inevitable in view of our present rate of development, and I fully sympathize with him in his criticisms of the apparent delays in completion, and the untidiness during the progress of the works. There are over a dozen utilities and other agencies who require to dig up roads. Meetings are held monthly in Hong Kong and Kowloon to co-ordinate the activities of all these bodies. At any one time there are something over 300 road openings in the Colony and the total for the year exceeds 10,000. Each utility is responsible for its own work of excavation and back-filling, but the reinstatement of the road surface is the responsibility of the Road Office, and this is always done as quickly as possible after final completion of the back-filling.
Night work, as suggested by Mr. FUNG, is not always possible or desirable. It adds very considerably to the cost of the work and in residential areas invariably leads to complaints from the public. In general, trenches are opened only for as long as necessary; it neither pays the utility company nor the contractor to prolong the work; the former has to pay for guarding and lighting the excavation while the latter is not paid by the hour but for the work done. Where delays occur they are likely to be due to practical problems such as rock removal without blasting, or the avoidance of cables and pipes, or the threading of cables or pipes under and over other utilities. It is only rarely that there is delay due to inadequacy of general labour.
Mr. Lo and Dr. LEE pressed for the immediate introduction of a mass rapid transit system to supplement existing public transport services. Any such system would involve the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars and would only be justified if the system was well used. This is a big "if". A rapid transit system would not stop every two hundred yards or so like buses and trams do, it would not run so frequently and might have to charge higher fares by reason of its heavy capital outlay. Distances in Hong Kong are generally short. Such attempts as have been made to operate express bus services with widely spaced stops have been a failure. It is by no means certain that a rapid transit system would carry a very high proportion of users of present public transport services. But traffic is growing and it is also doubtful if present systems can expand indefinitely.
Before plunging into too much work on monorails or undergrounds we must find out very much more about existing travel habits and make proper attempts at forecasting future demands. As Mr. WATSON said the Government has already agreed to undertake a public transport
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