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Hawkers
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
The main item of interest in this respect is the situation which has arisen over the Tang Lung Chau Market. The composite market was to have been the answer to all our problems, and, although certain difficulties have been encountered, I would not suggest that we should abandon the whole policy. Mr. BERNACCHI mentioned that the first floor was now useless but experiments in the United Kingdom have proved that housewives will go down to a basement. Some people who have concerned themselves in this affair have failed to distinguish between Fixed Pitch Hawkers and Pedlar Hawkers. A motion was passed some time ago that the latter class should be limited, but since then the policy has been to allow such licences to be freely issued. An ex-colleague on the Urban Council, the Honourable Y. K. KAN, expressed an opinion that no able-bodied male should be issued with a hawker licence. Whilst in a period of full employment this could be a negative step by Government to control the movement of labour, I am not proposing that it should be introduced.
Without the help of the statistics of an ex-Chairman Urban Council, it would be difficult to correlate the increase in the number of hawkers to the increase in the population, but there must be some connection. Provided they are properly controlled for the time being they are a necessity. If they were not hawking they would in all probability become a serial number in the Director of Social Welfare's files, and a burden on the public purse.
In order to control hawkers, two methods exist―
(1) by supplying composite markets and keeping pedlar hawkers away from the area, and
(2) because at the moment more pedlar hawkers are around those areas than can ever possibly be accommodated, other areas should be ear-marked. For this, the close co-operation of the Police is necessary. I am happy to say that this is the case, but I would like to see a much closer co-operation and support Mr. SALES in his request that the Commissioner of Police should once again be on the Urban Council.
The Hawker Control Force is to be congratulated on the way that it is carrying out its duties, which implement a policy laid down by the Council as a whole. Efforts should be made by all concerned to realize this important point. In many cases, more especially with pedlar hawkers, people are taking up space with that technical word, paraphernalia, far beyond the two baskets that are permitted. However, as Mr. BERNACCHI mentioned, the section of the Urban Services Department dealing with hawkers under the energetic supervision of Mr. ROWLANDS, is preparing designs for a barrow which we hope will be a solution to this problem, one which should be now of control rather than curtailment.
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Another point which must be borne in mind when considering the Hawker Control Force is that in many cases there are unlicensed hawkers competing for business in the same area as licensed hawkers, and the Force is powerless to control them, thereby making for misunderstandings with the licensed hawkers themselves. I would also like to support Mr. BERNACCHI's praise for Mr. STEVENS, the Control Force Commandant.
Cleansing
In a recent issue of a local weekly economic review there was an article on keeping the city clean, which although it condemned the inhabitants of Hong Kong, praised the Cleansing Division of the Urban Services Department and quite rightly. However, this article did not complain sufficiently about how filthy our harbour is and what should be done about it. I know that at present it comes under the control of the Marine Department, but I would like to suggest that this whole operation should be placed under the control of the Urban Services Department, not the Marine Department, for the control of harbour (Laughter). I know that this will be considered trespassing, but the Urban Council already operates a fleet at the main beaches of the Colony. (Laughter).
Naturally, the difficulties of keeping the city clean are not helped by the shortage of water and perhaps sea water could be used, but this may bring other disadvantages. However, one wonders what has happened to the suggestion that a pipe-line be laid to the East River. This would surely be one of the quickest and cheapest methods of solving our present difficulty.
Abattoirs
At a recent meeting of the Offensive Trades & Slaughterhouses Select Committee, we were given a timetable for the erection of the two slaughterhouses and they should be completed by February 1966 and May 1966 respectively, the senior partner of the two, Hong Kong, being first. Although this seems a long time there are many different contractors involved and the buildings are more in the nature of factories than tenement blocks.
Offensive Trades
With any luck the first part of the battle to find a suitable site for bone-processing establishments should be solved shortly as I understand an area in Kwai Chung will be available within six months. However, this is on the mainland and so leaves Hong Kong destitute. But from the experience gained at Kwai Chung it may be possible to have this process removed from the offensive category and so sites will be more readily obtainable on the Island.
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