Appendix I Appendix II
558
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
REPORT BY CHAIRMAN, HAWKERS SELECT COMMITTEE.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI :—Mr. Chairman, I rise on a point of order, particularly as Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee, to report that this Council, through the Hawkers Select Committee and the Police, presumably the Commissioner of Police, have formally come to a gentlemen's agreement that the Police would not consider as obstruction the placing of two tables and eight chairs or less by cooked food stall-holders. Now the Police have taken out 297 summonses for obstruction, of which 162 are obstruction by two tables and eight chairs or less. Another 600 summonses, many of them obstruction by two tables and eight chairs or less, are in the process of being taken out. I feel it my duty to report this matter to the Council and in my opinion the present situation raises a serious threat to the public content of Hong Kong.
CHAIRMAN:-Thank you, Sir. I will make it my business to inquire further into this matter.
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN.
Before we proceed with the agenda, I am sure that Members would wish me to congratulate Mr. BERNACCHI, Mr. Li Yiu-bor, Dr. P. F. Woo and Mr. Hilton CHEONG-LEEN on their success in the recent Urban Council election. (Applause).
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, may I, on behalf of the Appointed Members, say how pleased we are that our colleagues have been returned to this Council.
MINUTES.
The Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 9th February, 1965 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 February 1965.
(2) Analyses of Urban Services Department and Resettlement Department Staff Increases proposed in the draft Estimates for 1965/66.
He said-In connexion with the papers on the Analyses of Staff Increases proposed in the draft Estimates for 1965/66, Members are aware that a motion which bears on this subject is on the agenda and will be moved at a later stage at this meeting. I therefore do not propose to say anything now about the Urban Services Department's Estimates.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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559
MR. SALES:-Mr. Chairman, I do not wish this convention of speaking on the Estimates to go by default in the current year, besides which there are points concerning the Urban Services Department which I have made before and which I think I would like to make on this occasion also. I have spoken on several occasions about the need to reorganize the Department in keeping with the ambitious programmes of the various Select Committees. No doubt some reorganization is taking place but the pace is far too slow for our liking. I for one, Sir, refer to the need to reorganize completely the Amenities Section of your Department. I have mentioned this point before but I think that it bears repetition in a public meeting of the Council. Not only have I spelt out on behalf of the Urban Amenities Select Committee how this reorganization should be done, but we have also urged you in the past to accelerate the pace by which Government carries out our wishes. I am glad to learn that a small beginning is to be made in the current year, but that will not satisfy our ambitions. Sir, I think it is not proper to spend so much public money, to set aside so much land, not as much as we would like to have, but certainly adequate for the purpose at the present time according to Government's estimate, and yet not have the staff that is necessary to ensure that all these recreational and other amenities are put to proper use by the under-privileged children of Hong Kong. For that reason, Sir, may I urge upon you the need to examine the pace at which this programme is being carried out. Not only that, I would like to see that the people who are engaged to staff your Department are conscious of the need to serve the Urban Council as such, as distinct from Government generally.
MR. CHAIRMAN, may I also appeal to you when you do engage new members of your staff, to ensure that their brain-washing is carried out adequately, so that they realize that there exists in the Urban Council Ordinance, Section 55, which is in fact my favourite bit of that legislation. Without Section 55, Sir, I submit to you that Urban Councillors would not sleep as well at night. May I also appeal to my fellow Councillors to ensure that Section 55 is never abolished too.
With these remarks, Mr. Chairman, I support the Estimates that have been put before the Council, reserving my position regarding the motion that is to come later on in the agenda.
MR. BERNACCHI:-Mr. Chairman, I heartily endorse the words of Mr. SALES and I would perhaps have spoken at length on the Estimates had it not been for Mr. WATSON'S motion, on which I will speak at length.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, may I, without much further ado, say that at this end of the table we do heartily support the views expressed by Mr. Sales.