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MR. BERNACCHI:-I thank you, Sir, for that assurance.
MRS. LI: May I ask a supplementary question? Can any strong disciplinary action be taken in cases where a large-scale food poisoning occurs? It is mentioned here that 80 lbs. of ice cream were seized and destroyed, but there was no mention of whether any prosecutions followed. In this particular case, as Mr. CHEUNG Wing-in has mentioned earlier, this man has been hawking for the last 14 years; why has he escaped the attention of the staff?
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-The man who sold this ice cream is being sought by the Police. He is not licensed and until he is found and prosecuted, I cannot say what the result will be. Anyone hawking ice cream without a licence is liable to prosecution because it is an offence to do so.
MRS. LI:-In your reply you said that 80 lbs. of ice cream were seized and destroyed, but there is no mention of any prosecutions being made.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:-It is considered very much more important to get rid of the material at once than it is to prosecute the individual. Whether any prosecutions resulted from this I am not sure, but I can find out and let you know.
MR. BERNACCHI:-Is it not correct, Sir, as a general rule, that the Hawker Control Force deals with licensed hawkers and the Police deal with unlicensed hawkers? (Pause). To answer perhaps my own question, I would say in general that is a fact and therefore presumably the answer to Mrs. LI is that obviously the 80 lbs. of ice cream were seized from unlicensed hawkers and therefore the Police records could easily provide the answer as to whether or not there have been any prosecutions.
MR. SALES:-Mr. Chairman, might I point out on behalf of the Appointed Members that this is an auspicious occasion: the first Lady Appointed Member has put her first question and very good supplementary questions too. Could I, Mr. Chairman, presume that you would like me to encourage Mrs. Li to ask more questions and even more supplementary questions?
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, might I suggest that the next question Mrs. LI should ask should be addressed to the Chairman of the Urban Amenities Select Committee?
MR. WILFRED WONG:-Mr. Chairman, with due deference to the Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee, might I ask this supplementary question? Is it not true that the Hawker Control Force deals only with the 28 areas in which they operate and the Police deal with the rest?
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MR. BERNACCHI:-The Hawker Control Force deals with the 28 areas in which they operate and in the main with licensed hawkers in these areas. The Police deal with all unlicensed hawkers in all areas, but the Hawker Control Force sometimes get the Police to deal with an unlicensed hawker whom they find in their 28 areas.
MR. SALES:-Mr. Chairman, through you to the Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee, when he answered Mr. Wilfred WONG by explaining that the Police dealt with all unlicensed hawkers in all areas, should he not have qualified it by saying "If they deal with them at all?"
MR. BERNACCHI:-The question of unlicensed hawkers is a serious one and is receiving consideration at the present time by the Hawkers Select Committee. Perhaps the Working Committee of Police and Urban Services Department members will provide a solution to the question in point, but certainly the unlicensed hawkers are increasing in numbers.
MR. SALES: Thank you.
MR. CHEUNG:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask the Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee, through you, whether the demarcation he referred to is known to the Police? It is the newspapers that are attributing the unfortunate incident to the fault or failure in the duty of the Urban Services Department or the Urban Council.
MR. BERNACCHI:-Certainly it is known to the Police. Whether it is known to the public is highly doubtful. The hawkers certainly know where the Hawker Control Force operates, but other than hawkers, the general public are, I think, ignorant of where the Hawker Control Force operates and where only the Police operate.
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, through you, again to the Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee, would he not agree that all this misunderstanding over control and responsibility would not occur had the Commissioner of Police been a member of the Urban Council?
MR. BERNACCHI:-I would indeed agree and, like my friend Mr. SALES, am urging the Commissioner of Police to come back on to this Council, of which he was an official member at one time.
MR. SALES:-Thank you.
MR. CHEUNG WING-IN asked the following question:-
Is the Chairman aware that women and children living in the Wong Tai Sin Resettlement Estate frequently have to climb over the safety fence erected in the middle of Lung Cheung Road, Wong Tai Sin?
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