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# HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
## ADDRESS BY THE CHAIRMAN
At the meeting of the Council held on 2nd November, the Council in Committee of the Whole agreed under Standing Order 10(1) to debate the motion which appeared as Item 4(1) on the order of business for that meeting.
Subsequently, Council agreed that debate on this motion be adjourned to Tuesday, 16th November—that is today.
The mover of the motion is Mr. H. CHEONG-LEEN.
## MOTIONS
(1) Mr. H. CHEONG-LEEN moved the following motion:-
As Local Authorities are normally responsible for fire prevention services, Government is requested to put the operations of the Fire Services Department within the urban areas under the management of the Urban Council.
He said: Hong Kong is regarded by many visitors as one of the great cities of the world.
It is a flourishing commercial and industrial centre, with a magnificent harbour, well-stocked shops, excellent banking service, and 4 million industrious people.
Hong Kong's industrial policy is progressive. Its social policy is slightly less progressive. Its constitutional reform policy is just not progressive.
The Urban Council is the only official body with ten elected and ten appointed members to represent the view of Hong Kong's 4 million population. The Council's responsibilities are too narrowly restrictive, and this is becoming an increasing source of dissatisfaction, not just to Council members, but to the public as well.
Let us look at some of the other powers, which large municipal authorities in Great Britain enjoy, but which are denied to the Hong Kong Urban Council:-
We have: Fire and ambulance services;
Town planning Master Development Plan;
Traffic control and vehicle licensing; Education;
Welfare services for the elderly, the sick, the handicapped,
the children, the homeless, etc;
The levying of rates.
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The Hong Kong Government has so far turned down a proposal to bring education within the purview of the Urban Council. I know it for a fact that most Hong Kong people want education to be the responsibility of the Urban Council. They feel strongly that the Government is not doing enough to educate our younger generation, and is spending just the minimum that is necessary.
The matter of education is still under study by Unofficial Members of the Urban Council, and we will continue to press our views at every opportune occasion to give the Urban Council more say in Hong Kong's education policies.
Meantime, it is equally important that other local authority services which are of vital concern to the public be put under the management of the Urban Council.
And we ought to start with Fire and Ambulance Services.
The Fire Services Department is like an unwanted child, having received comparatively little attention in recent years from our usually omniscient and omnipotent Colonial Secretariat. The recruitment of trainee officers in that Department is today 65% under establishment, and morale is extremely low. If this situation persists for another few years, the Fire Services Department will face organizational collapse. The situation in fact is so bad that whenever there is a fire, one often sees more officers than ordinary firemen in action.
There is also considerable dissatisfaction among local fire services officers, who feel they are not getting fair opportunities for promotion.
Our fire-fighting equipment is modern and up-to-date, but what is the use of all that if the morale of our fire fighters is going downhill all the time?
For these and other reasons, Mr. Chairman, I would contend that the Fire Services Department should in the public interest be put under the management of the Urban Council.
We cannot afford to have a further deterioration of our fire and ambulance services because of poor pay and poor working conditions for fire services personnel. Our population is growing, and too many multi-storey buildings in which residents live are potentially dangerous fire-traps.
Quite a few multi-storey residents in the Tsim Sha Tsui and other districts have expressed to me their fear of waking up in the middle of the night and hearing the terrified scream of "Fire" somewhere in their multi-storey building. They have urged Urban Councillors to