Page 102 of 312
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN.
Before we proceed with the agenda, I would like to welcome Mr. SEDGWICK back to the Council. He has taken over the duties of Secretary for Chinese Affairs during the absence on leave of Mr. MCDOUALL. (Applause).
MINUTES.
The Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 7th July, 1964 were confirmed.
PAPERS.
THE CHAIRMAN laid upon the table the following papers:— (1) Report on the work of the Urban Council and Urban Services Department for the month of July 1964. (2) Urban Council and Urban Services Department Statistical Report for the period 1st April, 1964 to 30th June, 1964. (3) Report by the Commissioner for Resettlement on the progress of clearance and resettlement operations during the period 1st April, 1964 to 30th June, 1964.
MR. A. de O. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, with your permission, I would like to avail myself of the privilege given to Chairmen of Select Committees to make statements at this time in connexion with the papers which you have laid on the table. I think the Urban Amenities Select Committee will want me to clarify the position concerning the disgraceful condition of the water at our public beaches in particular, which also applies to the harbour and its surroundings in general. There has been a public outcry in consequence, which I think is justified in every way.
The Urban Council has tried to develop our public beaches within easy reach of the people. Much public money has been spent to improve them. An ever-growing number of people find on the urban beaches fun and relaxation from the tremendous pressure of living cheek by jowl in Hong Kong.
Therefore, it is with very grave concern that this Council finds that its efforts are set at nought by the failure to seal off the refuse dump at Gin Drinkers Bay. There is no reason why so little regard should be shown to the people by dilatoriness in completing this project. Work should be carried out round the clock. There can be no excuse for not doing so.
Of course, the ultimate solution is the installation of incinerators capable of disposing of all refuse collected by the Urban Services Department. Why they are still not yet fully operational on both sides of the harbour is a question to which Government should give this Council a frank answer.
I have not seen our harbour with so much filth in all my life. Adequate measures must be taken to keep even our busy port tolerably clean. If a solution has been found elsewhere, money must be voted to do this job in Hong Kong as well. Last year we saw photographs of a miserable effort by a lonely sampan to scoop filth and refuse out of the harbour. This we are led to believe is the sum total of Government's exertions to keep our harbour clean.
What measures are being taken to collect refuse from the thousands of sampans and other craft? Perhaps you, Mr. Chairman, might wish to give my colleagues and me a full account of all that has been done, obviously not enough, and all that will be done to overcome this most serious and deplorable condition.
DR. R. H. S. LEE:-Mr. Chairman, if you are not going to reply to Mr. SALES' eloquent speech, I would like to say a few words in regard to the papers that are laid on the table this afternoon.
Although I do not subscribe to a Chinese saying which says that "One who sells flowers praises their fragrance", I am sure, Mr. Chairman, you know that the average person in the street rarely realizes the amount of work that this Council puts into it. To the man in the street, the Urban Council is one huge iceberg, one-tenth of which is shown above water and the other nine-tenths submerged beyond the average view of the public. The average person considers that if a Councillor attends a monthly meeting his duty is completed. He is usually visualized as a well-heeled, well-paid individual by Government and is also an owner of a limousine whose licence plate number does not exceed 13. But if these statistical figures are more generously given to the public, I am sure that picture will be changed, because I am surprised that the Department collect as much as 446,656 cubic yards of refuse, slaughtered 462,061 pigs and 27,640 head of cattle. 264,163 people have used the Council's two swimming pools and, in spite of the scarcity of public car parks, 195,334 cars have used our public car parks. Now, if I were to read to you all the sum total of what the Council does, which covers a wide spectrum, it ranges from the day that a person is born and able to take his milk to the time that he expires and is ready to go into a coffin and be buried. That represents the spectrum of this Council's work, but I am not entirely satisfied with these statistics, Mr. Chairman, because I do not know whether, consciously or unconsciously, the cultural wing of the Council has been totally neglected. I speak, Sir, of the work done by the City Hall, the City Hall Library, the City Hall Museum and Art Gallery. I think all these figures are not indicated. Any civic-minded person who pays a
180
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
181
Page 103 of 312