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THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
From the opening of the Kowloon Tsai Swimming Pool up to 5th July, a total of 30 days, 143,530 people used the pool, an average of 4,784 a day. The attendance on individual days varied, the peak being on 21st June when 10,443 people paid for admission.
On the second part of the question, the representations of this Council as regards the provision of further swimming pools have been made known to Government. Government is sympathetic towards these representations, as His Excellency the Governor made clear when he opened the Kowloon Tsai pool.
You will appreciate, however, that although the need for more swimming pools and other amenities is clear, there are many other competing demands on public funds and on the time and efforts of Government departments, particularly that headed by my friend the Director of Public Works. Nonetheless the case for more swimming pools will continue to be pressed and I am sure that it will receive a sympathetic hearing within the framework of these other demands.
On the third part of the question, the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club has, by its generous donations for the Victoria Park and Kowloon Tsai Pools, and its promised donation for the pool at Cheung Sha Wan, shown close interest in the provision of this type of amenity. It too is, I believe, faced with competing demands on its generosity and does not concentrate all its efforts in one particular field. The Jockey Club maintains a close liaison with Government in deciding on the purposes towards which its donations are put and your point will certainly be made known to the Club.
(At this point, Mr. BERNACCHI entered the meeting)
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, may I thank you for this certainly most comprehensive reply to my question, and go on to the next question.
MR. A. de O. SALES asked the following question:-
May we know whether Government is prepared to increase the number of Urban Council projects which can be completed by the Public Works Department in any one year?
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THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
This is a difficult question to answer in general terms. While Government fully realizes the importance of this Council's various projects, there are, as I have already said, many other demands on its financial resources and upon the time of the Public Works Department. The number of Council projects in a year must be viewed within this framework. A further point is that these projects vary widely in size, expense, and time spent on them, to the extent that it is not realistic to think only in terms of numbers of projects completed in any one year. To be more specific, Council projects affect both the architectural and the engineering side of the Public Works Department. They are carried out either as items in the Public Works Programme or, as far as urban amenities are concerned, from a block vote which this year is $14 million as against $1 million two years ago. Practically all projects carried out under the block vote require the Public Works Department's assistance. In 1960 the Director of Public Works agreed to undertake each year, in addition to fencing, paving, etc., and small latrines or shelters, a maximum of six block vote projects involving buildings. Taking this figure of six, it should be borne in mind that block vote projects, by reason of their number and geographical dispersion, can be very demanding on the staff time of the Public Works Department and there is also the financial limitation of the amount made available each year in the block vote. However, I should be glad to ask my friend the Director of Public Works to review the present arrangements in conjunction with the Urban Amenities Select Committee, although he has indicated that there is little if any chance of improvement at the present time. A further connected point is, of course, the question of actually being able to spend the monies made available in the block vote in a year. We are looking into this matter already, as there has been in the past some degree of lapsing of funds, but I am glad to say that last year some $950,000 out of a total of $1,100,000 was spent.
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, if, as you suggest in the first paragraph, it is not realistic to think only in terms of numbers of projects completed in any one year, why is it in the second paragraph the statement was made that the Public Works Department thought it necessary to limit the number of buildings for amenity purposes to six each year?
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