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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
CHAIRMAN: ---No, Sir, I was not aware of the figures which you quoted.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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MR. SALES: The Chairman of the Urban Amenities Select Committee was very heavily engaged in pursuing another enquiry from the Secretary for Chinese Affairs concerning barbed wires in playgrounds.
(4) MR. CHEUNG WING-IN asked the following question:-
(a) Can the Chairman advise whether the Council has any responsibility for the management of playgrounds which are operated by Kaifong Associations?
(b) Is the Chairman aware that some of these playgrounds can be put to fuller use for the benefit of the residents where these playgrounds are situated?
(c) Will the Chairman be prepared to take steps to ensure that the Urban Amenities Select Committee will have a say in the management and use in which these playgrounds will be put?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. Regarding the second part of the question, I am aware that this view has been expressed by a number of people, including some Members of this Council.
Regarding the third part of the question, the Urban Amenities Select Committee, of which you are a member, decided at its last meeting to take up with the Secretary for Chinese Affairs the question of the running of such playgrounds. The matter has now been referred to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs and I think that it would be inappropriate for me to say anything more about it at this juncture.
MR. CHEUNG:--Mr. Chairman, as quite a number of people have expressed concern over the use of these playgrounds by Kaifong bodies, can you give an indication as to when we may expect a reply from the Secretary for Chinese Affairs?
CHAIRMAN:--Sir, before I ask my friend the Secretary for Chinese Affairs to answer, I would point out that this matter was referred to him only a few days ago, because we were waiting for the minutes of the particular meeting, which I think was held on 19th March, to be confirmed before taking action.
SECRETARY FOR CHINESE AFFAIRS:-May I add, Mr. Chairman, that I have not received any paper at all yet from the Select Committee concerned. I know nothing about it. If it had been really urgent, may I suggest that perhaps the Chairman of the Committee could have telephoned me? (Laughter).
(5)
MR. CHEUNG WING-IN asked the following question:-
(a) Is the Chairman aware of the continual nuisance to the residents of Hung Hom in the form of smoke, dust, and fumes emanating from the chimney of the Green Island Cement Company at Ma Tau Wei Road and of the noise of cranes of the same Company working overnight?
(b) Will the Chairman be prepared to take steps to ensure that the public nuisance will be abated?
THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES replied as follows:
I am certainly aware of complaints regarding the emission of smoke from these works. The amount of smoke and dust discharged varies considerably with atmospheric conditions and is usually rather worse in damp weather.
The emission of fumes, particularly sulphur dioxide, is part of a very much wider problem embracing all industrial plants which burn coal or fuel oil; but, in the case of the Green Island Cement Company, the volume of fumes produced is so small as to be considered negligible, and no nuisance is caused by this element of the smoke. Concerning abatement of the smoke nuisance, Members will no doubt have seen the statement on this matter by the Commissioner of Labour at the recent Budget Debate in Legislative Council. I am assured that the extremely modern electrostatic precipitators shortly to be installed in the new chimney now being built at the Green Island Cement Works will effect a very great reduction in the emission of smoke.
With regard to the complaint of noise caused by the Company's cranes working at night, I have been informed that this is, in fact, partly due to the new construction work now underway, though some processes in the actual manufacture of cement are capable of giving rise to noise at a level which may be disturbing during late night hours. The Commissioner of Labour has said that the management of the company is being consulted about this complaint, and it is hoped that some improvement in the situation can be achieved.
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