HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
between the staff of the Resettlement Department and people that they intend to resite. Will some attempts be made to investigate this?
CHAIRMAN:-Sir, you are introducing new matter.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask a supplementary question on the second part of your answer to my question? Is it true to say that in cases of hardship confiscated materials are given only in the case of an emergency, and if so, what constitutes an emergency?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-I can only say that stocks are issued at the discretion of myself.
CHAIRMAN:-Mrs. ELLIOTT, when I was in the Resettlement Department the practice was to issue the materials if they were available to the limit of what was available.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, can I ask the Commissioner for Resettlement whether, on most occasions, stocks of materials have proved to be insufficient?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-In most cases they were insufficient in quantity and very definitely insufficient in quality. For the most part stocks consist of old timber which is not very satisfactory, and a lot of the people, when they can afford it prefer to use new materials.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, may I have a ruling from you? Is further discussion on this subject in the Resettlement Management Select Committee in order?
CHAIRMAN:-This matter concerns resettlement and it is perfectly in order for the Resettlement (Policy) Select Committee, or any other committee, to discuss resettlement matters whilst the Working Party is sitting. It is a matter for the judgment and discretion of Members as to whether that step should be taken when the Working Party is still in being.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-May I suggest that the various points which have been raised during discussion of this question be referred to the Management Select Committee.
CHAIRMAN:-I expect that the Chairman of the Working Party would be glad to have a record of these remarks.
MR. BERNACCHI:-Mr. Chairman, may I, in addition, for the benefit of our meeting in public, ask you or the Commissioner for Resettlement whether the second part of Mrs. ELLIOTT's question is also under consideration by the Working Party?
Page 85 of 194
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
CHAIRMAN:-Sir, I am afraid I must rule that question out of order.
MR. BERNACCHI:-Would you care to give me your grounds for ruling it out of order, Sir?
CHAIRMAN:-Sir, our Standing Orders say that a supplementary question may be asked but it may not introduce matter not included in the original question. The original question contains no reference to the Working Party. There is a reference in the answer to the Working Party, but there is no reference to it in the question.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask you, arising out of your answer to the question, whether or not it is in order for a supplementary to be asked in the manner which was asked by Mr. BERNACCHI?
CHAIRMAN:-Sir, I think I must take refuge in the answer I gave earlier that I am not forced to answer any supplementary question.
ADJOURNMENT.
CHAIRMAN:-That concludes the business of this meeting. Council stands adjourned until Tuesday, 3rd September, 1963.
PRINTED BY JACK RANYARD LEE, ACTING GOVERNMENT PRINTER AT THE GOVERNMENT PRESS, HONG KONG
Page 86 of 194
154
(empty page)
Page 84 of 194
152
Page 86 of 194
154
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
153
has been removed and the content reordered to reflect the correct sequence of the discussion. The text has been formatted into paragraphs using HTMLtags as per the instructions. Spelling errors have been corrected, and spacing issues have been addressed. The original content and word count have been preserved.