HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-I refer specifically to the international wire services.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES: --I do not call that an authority. (Laughter).
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-On the other hand, Mr. Chairman, I think I would like to point out that when I was referring to authorities I was not referring to the press. I was referring to sources of information in Hong Kong who presumably have some knowledge of the subject.
DR. LEE:-I think Mr. CHEONG-LEEN was referring to a certain radioactive fallout which falls on the fodder which the cattle eat and which causes contamination of the milk. I think that is very remote in Hong Kong.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Being a layman I am not prepared to sound too authoritative on this subject, Mr. Chairman. (Laughter). But perhaps there is a possibility that contamination might eventually reach Hong Kong through the upper stratosphere.
MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, is it possible that Mr. CHEONG-LEEN might be privy to some information not available to the Hong Kong Government? Perhaps the source could be one of those Parliamentary missions that we get so often in Hong Kong nowadays. (Laughter).
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT: -Mr. Chairman, may I ask Mr. CHEONG-LEEN whether Mr. SALES' fallout, to which he referred earlier in this meeting, has been in any way attributable to this matter? (Laughter).
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MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:-
(a) Will the Chairman clarify to what extent the Urban Services Department is responsible for the control of smoke nuisances in the urban areas?
(b) Which other Government Departments are also responsible for the control of smoke nuisances in the urban areas?
(c) Has the feasibility of the Urban Council being appointed co-ordinating authority on the control of smoke nuisances in the urban areas previously been considered by this Council?
(d) If not, will the Chairman please refer this matter to the Council's Committee of the Whole for a full discussion?
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THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
(a) The Director of Urban Services is a Competent Authority and all Health Officers and Health Inspectors are Smoke Abatement Officers under the Clean Air Ordinance, No. 19 of 1959. The Department's concern in regard to the control of smoke nuisances is to guard against general health dangers which can arise from an excessive volume of smoke emitted in crowded areas and also to ensure that smoke is not emitted unnecessarily in such quantity as to constitute a nuisance to anybody living nearby.
There are other Competent Authorities under the Ordinance, namely, the Commissioner of Labour, who deals with smoke nuisances arising from industrial undertakings, the Director of Civil Aviation, who is concerned with the safety of aircraft, and the District Commissioner, New Territories, who deals with smoke nuisances in the New Territories. The Urban Services Department is primarily concerned with smoke nuisances emanating from domestic premises and restaurants.
(b) The Labour Department and the Civil Aviation Department are also concerned with smoke nuisances in the urban area, as I have already indicated.
(c) As far as I am aware the Urban Council has never considered the question of the appointment of a co-ordinating authority.
(d) I would have no objection to referring the matter to the Committee of the Whole for discussion, but it is not clear to me that any advantage would result from the appointment of the Council as a co-ordinating authority.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, I think from the Council's point of view there are a lot of advantages in the Urban Council acting as a co-ordinating authority, and it really breaks my heart to have to disagree with you at your very first meeting after your return. So I would like to have this matter discussed at a future meeting of the Committee of the Whole.
MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:
Will the Deputy Director of Medical and Health Services give an assessment of the cholera situation as it is now, and indicate whether it would be necessary for Urban Council Health Inspectors to continue on emergency anti-cholera duties during the winter months?
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