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adequate underpinning. Far too many authorized architects and contractors have been paying little or no attention to the statutory responsibilities placed upon them, quite apart from their professional responsibility to their clients and to the public at large.
If delays are being caused by the need for the Buildings Ordinance Office to carry out inspections, and the need to insist on adequate shoring before giving consent to demolish, I regret it. We are doing our best to keep delays to a minimum, and on the whole I think we are succeeding, but the Building Authority cannot sit back and watch the disintegration of these old buildings when they are still occupied by hundreds of people; some positive action to reduce the very real danger of a major disaster is essential.
I now turn to Housing. In May last year, when speaking in this Council Chamber, I said that future Resettlement building prospects were good. I said that construction or site formation was in hand on Estates with a population potential of 575,000 people, and that we expected to let new contracts during the financial year 1963/64 for the construction of resettlement housing with accommodation for over 150,000 people.
What is the position today? Construction or site formation is now in hand on Estates with a population potential of nearly 700,000; and in the first nine months of the financial year we let contracts for the construction of new blocks with accommodation for over 200,000 people.
There is now a steady flow of formed sites and I am confident that the increased rate of building can be maintained in the future.
The latest figures for Government Low Cost Housing are also satisfactory. Since April 1st last year we completed 15 Blocks for 13,000 people and in addition we have 36 Blocks, with accommodation for 48,500 people, under construction.
Mr. Chairman, the Public Works Department officers who are charged with the responsibility of finding the sites, preparing the development programmes for Resettlement and Low Cost Housing, designing the estates, and supervising their construction, are just as impatient of delay as any Member of this Council. There is a sense of urgency about all that they do, and I can assure you that they are constantly looking for ways and means to speed up output and the rate of completion.
Town Planning is a subject with which this Council is intimately concerned. You, Mr. Chairman, are a valued member of the Town Planning Board, and this year the Board has sought the comments and criticisms of the Council at an early stage in the preparation of their draft plans. The opportunity given to the Secretary of the Board to explain the plans of Tsim Sha Tsui and Aberdeen to Members of the Council, and to take part in the ensuing discussion, has been of great value. The various points made by Members at these meetings, as well as those made by Mr. WATSON and other Members in their speeches last month, will be studied by the Board. I also welcome Dr. Raymond LEE'S comments on our roads, and the need for more pedestrian subways.
To conclude, Sir, may I again express my pleasure at the close co-operation that exists between the Public Works Department and the Urban Services Department. I hope, and believe, that this co-operation extends to this Council Chamber and its many Select Committees on which representatives of the Public Works Department serve.
Sir, I beg to support the motion. (Applause).
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:- Mr. Chairman, in rising to support this motion I would like to thank the Unofficial Members of this Council for their continued interest in public health, for their words of encouragement and for their constructive criticisms and suggestions.
Throughout the past year we have been faced with a severe water shortage and a protracted outbreak of cholera which was due to the changing pattern of this disease in the Western Pacific and South East Asia regions. These have placed additional burdens on all those concerned with the maintenance of public health. As Dr. Raymond LEE mentioned it was necessary, in order to prevent the cholera outbreak from becoming more serious, to suspend house inspection for a time and to divert staff to emergency duties. Fortunately, it was only necessary to do this for 10 weeks of the year and inspections were resumed on the 9th September after a re-arrangement of duties. I am in agreement with Dr. LEE regarding the value of house inspection as a routine health measure, and I hope that in future years house inspections, anti-epidemic measures and health education can all effectively be carried out at the same time.
Dr. P. F. Woo referred to the removal of obstructions in yards where they interfered with light and ventilation. Of course, we should like to see all yards and open spaces completely clear of obstructions and if the Colony were not so overcrowded it might be possible to achieve this.
The present policy on the removal of obstructions which was approved in Committee in July last year is designed to give the staff working rules to follow. So far the policy has proved workable and
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