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A "Keep The City Clean" Campaign is planned for October this year.

Ten new refuse collecting vehicles are on order and in addition, 15 new vehicles are on order as replacements for older types now in service. None of these will be available until next year.

The boundaries of the Sham Shui Po/Lai Chi Kok cleansing area of Kowloon are to be adjusted, and another Health Inspector posted there as the work in that area has increased beyond the capacity of the one Health Inspector. I think you will appreciate that the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee is alive to the need to improve the cleansing service in order to cope with the steadily growing volume of rubbish. I am afraid however that despite the various campaigns which have been held from time to time and continual prosecutions of refuse dumpers, the public in general are careless of their responsibility to maintain cleaner conditions in the city by refraining from dumping litter in the streets.

MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, may I, through you, thank the Chairman of the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee for a very comprehensive answer to my question and may I also endorse what he said in the last paragraph of the answer. I would now like to put this supplementary question which concerns the very first sentence in the reply. Have you, Mr. Chairman, made known to the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee the representations made to you by the Hong Kong Tourist Association?

CHAIRMAN: -I can say, Sir, that I mentioned this matter at the last meeting of the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee.

DR. LEE: -May I correct you, Mr. Chairman? You mentioned it informally, but not at the meeting.

DR. Woo: -I think it was at the meeting, Sir. (Laughter).

CHAIRMAN: -I did mention to the Select Committee that there have been complaints about deteriorating standards in the streets, not only from the Kowloon Residents' Association but also from another critic.

MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, it was not my intention to show that there is dissension in that Select Committee. (Laughter). However, may I ask that this matter be studied carefully by that Select Committee, because the people who live in that area and particularly people who have business interests there, apparently do not agree with the statement that has been made in the first sentence of the reply? Might I suggest at the same time that you draw the attention of the Select Committee to the complaint which I personally made about conditions in the Central District of the Island just to show that I am not particularly partial towards Kowloon?

MR. WILFRED WONG: -Mr. Chairman, may I ask a supplementary question? With reference to the second paragraph of the reply which says that with the strengthening of the special cleansing squads, 40 working days are required to cover the areas on the Island and 29 working days in Kowloon, I want to know whether these figures bear any relation to the relative cleanliness of Hong Kong versus Kowloon.

CHAIRMAN: No, Sir. The intention is to achieve the same high standard of cleanliness in each place. It is in fact more difficult to cover the areas in Hong Kong, because the ground is more frequently sloping.

MR. SALES: -Then, Mr. Chairman, is it the opinion of your Department that the question put by my colleague, Mr. WONG, is correct? That it takes more to keep Hong Kong clean than it does Kowloon?

CHAIRMAN: -No, Sir.

DR. LEE: -On a point of clarification, Mr. Chairman, I wonder whether Mr. SALES would like to clarify his point about which area in Tsim Sha Tsui he has in mind in regard to the rapid or general deterioration in standard and appearance.

MR. SALES: Most certainly, Mr. Chairman. I know from actual experience because I go by that area, and that is east of Nathan Road and south of Kimberley Road. I could not be more specific and, in fact, the area around the Railway Station as well. I have time and again over the last few years drawn the attention of your Department to that particular area.

CHAIRMAN: -I may say, Sir, that time and again action has been taken on your complaints. (Laughter). I remember now who the other critic was. It was the Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourist Association who also wrote some weeks ago to ask if we could do anything to improve the standard of cleanliness of the Tsim Sha Tsui area, about which there had been some adverse criticism by tourists. We assured him that not only were we trying our best to make it cleaner but that we would also refer the matter (as I did) to the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee.

MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, that was the substance of my first supplementary. Now, may I ask in connexion with the reply that has been given to me, whether your Department has discontinued those

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