HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
most expensive-$23 a month. The middle one is $22 a month and the top one is $20 a month.
DR. LEE:-Does the Vice-Chairman agree that such rents are pretty stiff for a person who earns, say, $5 a day and may have several members of his family to support?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-I am not an economist, Sir. They sound fairly cheap rents in relation to other rents in Hong Kong.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask for some information on the bedspaces which were visited this morning? Were all three of them cages, first tier, second tier and third tier?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-Yes, they were.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Can the Vice-Chairman recall approximately the area of the bedspaces?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-They were each approximately 6 feet long, 3 feet wide and 4 feet high.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Did the Vice-Chairman inquire whether these bedspaces were occupied by individuals or by families?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-The ones that I saw, Sir, were all occupied by individuals, all by males.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Were these bedspaces or bunks in tenement-type flats?
In the case of this particular flat visited by the Vice-Chairman, was the entire flat occupied by these "caged" bedspaces?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-They were on the 5th floor of a fairly large building. I was informed that the whole floor had been used as a boarding house for about two years. It is not an old-style tenement at all; it was a new building.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask again, through you, from the Vice-Chairman, in the case of the entire flat used as a boarding house, how many cages were there in that flat?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-On the 5th floor of this building there were 174 bedspaces.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Were they all "caged"?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-All were "caged", but not all occupied. About 141 were occupied.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, in other words, it is entirely possible that if 58 floors with "caged" bedspaces were visited, each of these floors could have had more than 100 "caged" bedspaces?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-It is possible, Sir.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-I believe also it was a fact.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-I have not got information on how many bedspaces there were on these 58 floors that were visited, but I can get it if you wish.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask the Vice-Chairman to give us some information in regard to the 4 bedspaces which were not found to have adequate light and ventilation? Why was it considered that they did not have adequate light or ventilation? Was it because of the wire-mesh?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-I understand that these constituted an obstruction to ventilation, probably by interfering with the opening of windows and so on.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-In other words then, it was not a question of interference with ventilation for the occupants of the bedspaces? Could I also ask the Vice-Chairman whether there appears to be a growing tendency to have more of these "caged" bedspaces in the Colony?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-I did state, Sir, that it appeared to be of recent origin-a fairly recent idea.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-From the information that is available from the survey carried out, does it appear to be an increasing tendency as well?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-I will have to find that out.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask that this matter be referred to the appropriate Select Committee, because I personally consider that if this tendency should grow, it could have a serious effect on the health of the residents of this Colony.
CHAIRMAN:-Yes, Sir.
MR. CHEUNG WING-IN asked the following question:
Is the Chairman aware that the safety fences erected in the middle of many of our roads notably Lockhart Road in Wan Chai are being used for the purpose of drying
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