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THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
Cleansing services are provided in the area known as the Kowloon Walled City as part of the services to a larger area which is bounded by Tung Tau Tsuen Road, Junction Road, Carpenter Road, and the Tung Tau Resettlement Estate, and including the Tung Tau and Sai Tau Villages. This area is low-lying and therefore presents considerable drainage problems which could only be overcome basically by re-development and the raising of levels. Inside this area, and within 250 yards of its boundaries, there are 5 flushing latrines with a total of over 200 compartments and 2 dry latrines with a total of 41 compartments. 4 of the latrines incorporate bathhouses, that is to say, those at Tung Tau Tsuen Road, Lo Fu Ngam, Carpenter Road and Hau Wong Road. It is considered therefore that the latrine and bathing facilities are adequate in the circumstances. The provision of additional amenities in this area is, in any event, severely restricted by the extreme congestion and lack of available land.
45 labourers are provided for a daily scavenging and refuse collection service and deal with 400 baskets of refuse and silt, but because of the lack of drainage and vehicle access, the work is slow and laborious. As to conservancy, over 300 nightsoil pans are dealt with nightly. House to house inspections are conducted in the area once in every 6 to 9 months by the district inspectorate, and control of food premises inside the area is aimed at by advice and education. The area is provided with a weekly service to control mosquito and fly-breeding. Pest control services are also available. Potable well water is chlorinated daily.
For the reasons indicated, the standard of services cannot, for physical reasons, be as high as in the developed districts of the urban areas and the improvements that can be made are limited.
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, may I through you and on behalf of the Appointed Members, congratulate Mr. CHEONG-LEEN on his forbearance. At this meeting he has put only six questions. He cannot possibly be in the pink of condition because he has also asked only three supplementary questions. Perhaps the fatigue of excessive campaigning is telling on him. May I also make it a part of the record of proceedings of this meeting that the Unofficial Members of this Council have agreed that after the Election in March, the Elected Members will return the compliment which we are paying them by abstaining from asking questions, so that the field may be left open to us, just as we have been doing for the last several months in their favour.
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MR. CHEONG-LEEN:- Mr. Chairman, may I ask for your forbearance in replying to Mr. SALES? May I express my appreciation and that of my colleagues to Mr. SALES for his interest in the Election. We are waiting for his long announced intention of starting another political party.
MR. BERNACCHI :- Nevertheless, Mr. Chairman, the news that the Appointed Members have deliberately refrained from asking questions is new to me.
MOTIONS.
(1) MR. B. A. BERNACCHI moved the following motion:
For the better discharge of this Council's statutory duty, officers of the Urban Services Department should enter the communal parts of buildings for the purposes of sweeping and maintaining them in a clean and healthy condition. And for that purpose this Council urges Government to pass any necessary legislation.
He said:- Mr. Chairman, I rise to move the first motion standing in my name on the Order Paper. In this hour of financial crisis it may seem comparatively unimportant, but the financial crisis will pass. Rubbish will remain unless this Council does something about it. I do not deny that this motion is a result of the filthy conditions of communal parts of buildings that have been brought home so forcibly to the Reform Club candidates in the current election campaign. I think that one of the advantages and values of the Elections is that it forces Elected Members more than ever to go and see conditions for themselves and to acquaint themselves with the day-to-day problems of Hong Kong and its citizens. This motion is intended to apply particularly to new multi-storey buildings.
A new building is often sold off flat by flat, shop by shop, to individual owners. There is often a Deed of Mutual Covenant which, in theory, provides for the upkeep, maintenance and cleanliness of the communal parts of the building. But often that Deed is a piece of worthless paper which, if it is enforceable at all, can only be enforced by an action in the Courts and, in the absence of free or assisted legal representation, it simply costs too much to go to the Courts about such matters. There is no assurance that the Courts can offer an effective day-to-day remedy even if they hold that the Deed of Mutual Covenant as such is enforceable. The Reform Club is urging the Government to pass legislation compelling the first owners, usually speculators, to keep the communal parts of new buildings clean and healthy, virtually in perpetuity. But until that happens, the only solution that I can see is
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548
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THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
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