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excellent raids which were carried out previously on specific areas, one at a time, and which were in addition to the normal cleansing undertaken by the Department?
CHAIRMAN: --No, Sir. These special efforts are still being made. In fact, the Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee referred to one area affected, which is at Spring Garden Lane, where the improvement in standard is considerable.
MR. SALES: Could I, in that respect, ask the Department for a paper to be issued to the Standing Committee of the Whole Council showing the various raids that have been carried out in the last six months?
CHAIRMAN: -Sir, "Raids" is not quite the correct word. These are special cleansing operations.
MR. SALES: -Well, I had in view the commando-like efforts made by your Department which were so effective last year.
CHAIRMAN: -Sir, the information will certainly be provided, as you request, to the Standing Committee of the Whole Council.
MR. SALES: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
MR. WATSON: -Mr. Chairman, it is stated that the Kennedy Town incinerator's capacity is 750 tons per day and that of the Lai Chi Kok incinerator will be 1,000 tons per day. May I ask how does this compare with the present amount of refuse being collected daily?
CHAIRMAN: —My impression, Sir, is that the total amount of refuse shifted now is in the neighbourhood of 1,200 tons a day, but I would like to confirm that later if I may.
MR. WATSON: -Thank you.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN: -Mr. Chairman, would you welcome part-time volunteers from Members of this Council in the "Keep the City Clean" campaign?
CHAIRMAN: ----Certainly, Sir.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN: --You can count then, Sir, on at least one or more Elected Members?
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, you may not count on the Appointed Members. (Laughter).
MR. CHEONG-LEEN: Is that for obvious reasons, Sir?
(At this point the Director of Public Works, with the permission of the Chairman, excused himself from the meeting)
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:·
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As the Working Party's recommendations on housing have not yet been accepted and implemented by Government, would the Commissioner for Resettlement take up with Government what may be done meanwhile to alleviate the plight of families made homeless by the demolition of old tenements, by way of resettlement or resiting?
THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:-
At present, rooftop squatters from tenements that are the subject of exclusion orders under the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance are offered resites and will be resettled in due course as accommodation becomes available. All tenants of condemned tenements are similarly offered resites whether they were rooftop squatters or regular tenants. This preferential treatment is given to people from condemned tenements because they have had no time in which to find alternative accommodation; neither have the tenants received compensation before eviction.
The Report of the Working Party is under active consideration and proposals on certain of the recommendations in the report which are considered to be particularly urgent will be submitted to the Governor in Council as soon as possible. It is not considered that any time could be saved by attempting to obtain an earlier decision on this single issue which can scarcely be resolved in isolation from other important recommendations in the report.
MRS. ELLIOTT: -Mr. Chairman, my colleague, Mr. Hilton CHEONG-LEEN, has already mentioned it, and I would like to reiterate this question. May I ask you if you would bring to the notice of Government that Members of this Council are concerned at the delay in the making of decisions on this Report and we would be very glad if you could impress upon Government, as a matter of urgency, because it is exactly one year since this Committee was called as an urgent matter?
CHAIRMAN: -The answer is "yes". Your views will again be brought to the notice of Government.
MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, might I recall that I asked a similar question at the last monthly meeting and I would like to say if you would please transmit to Government that, while the Report has not been published and Members of this Council have not been allowed to discuss that Report, parts of that Report have appeared in the local Press, which is all very unfortunate, and I have made representations to you in private for the early publication of this Report and I think it is only fair to the Members of this Council who have had to restrain
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