HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
which the cleansing and other services are operated on each side of the harbour. These buildings which incorporate the garages for the transport fleet cost $7 million.
Additional posts for cleansing labourers have been approved this year and the deficiencies in staff are now being made good with the recent improvement in recruitment. Gin Drinker's Bay dump has been sealed off and offloading operations there have been completely mechanised. The supervision of cleansing work at a senior level in Kowloon has been strengthened by the appointment of an Assistant Superintendent for Kowloon.
We have not been denied funds to carry out these improvements. I have found the Finance Branch and Finance Committee to be generally both understanding and co-operative towards this Council when reasonable suggestions have been made regarding staff or equipment, bearing in mind the many pressing calls on public funds from other sections of Government.
I think, it is unfair to blame the delay in building the abattoirs and incinerators on the Finance Branch. The abattoirs are an extremely complicated undertaking, as anyone who has studied the plans will realize, and the delays are due to planning problems, the decision to build two abattoirs instead of one, changes in the department's requirements, and many other factors. Incinerators are likewise most complicated and take years to plan and design. Clearly we could spend more on street lighting though tourists think our million lights are pretty good compared with other places, but is this more important than building new hospitals for example?
It is said that whilst our main streets are now reasonably well swept, the back streets are unacceptably dirty. I think that this is true and that closer attention must now be paid to the back streets. At the present time a beat sweeping survey, which has been carried out in conjunction with the Organizational Surveys Unit, is nearing completion and in due course the report will be referred to the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee. I cannot say what recommendations will be made, but I feel sure that the importance of strengthening the organization at the junior supervisory level will not be overlooked.
I must also mention an experiment which is now being carried out in the Hong Kong eastern central area, covering Wan Chai and Happy Valley, where a Chief Health Inspector has been appointed to take responsibility for the co-ordination of all departmental activities in that area under the title of District Co-ordinator. The responsibility for cleansing, hygiene, markets, hawkers, and amenities in this area will remain with the staff normally responsible for these activities but where these activities overlap or impinge upon each other, where undue obstruction is created on the streets, or where standards of cleanliness and hygiene in the area are affected, the Co-ordinating Officer steps in. It is intended that it should be his prime responsibility to ensure that in all respects his district is fully up to the standards of cleanliness and efficiency required by this Council. This experiment started on 1st December. I await the report on the first month's operation of this new scheme with interest.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
I now come to the "Keep Your District Clean" Campaign introduced this year and sponsored by the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee. These campaigns differ from the former "Keep Your City Clean" Campaigns in that effort is concentrated onto smaller areas in co-operation with the Kaifong associations and on lines originally suggested by Mr. K. S. Lo and Mr. Solomon RAFEEK. The use of radio, press, films and film stars is made in putting over the message in an attractive form, and Mr. RAFEEK and his Committee have proved, by dint of considerable effort, that it is possible to achieve higher cleansing standards and to obtain a degree of co-operation from the public. Several members have pointed out the need for a sustained follow-up after the campaigns. Members of this Council have it in mind, I think, that this follow-up can be achieved by the department in co-operation with the Kaifong associations. I should certainly like to see more regular liaison between the cleansing staff and the local Kaifong associations, including frequent and regular meetings to discuss local cleansing problems. If local people demonstrate their interest in the local standards, the department must surely respond to the best of its ability. In these cleansing campaigns we seek the willing co-operation of the public but where this is not forthcoming the powers to prosecute offences must be exercised. Over 1,000 prosecutions have been taken out by cleansing staff for offences connected with the dumping of refuse in the streets in the past 8 months.
The department is pursuing the mechanization of cleansing and a large mechanical sweeper was brought into use recently which is raising standards in the areas where it operates. We shall continue to explore and extend mechanical processes, as far as possible, under the direction of the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee and with the active encouragement of the Finance Branch of the Colonial Secretariat.
Dr. BELL referred to the unsatisfactory condition of pavements, street gutters and roadways. Until the middle of this year a system was in force whereby the cleansing staff made written reports to the Roads and Drainage Office when defects in the surfaces of roads, pavements and scavenging lanes were noticed. The Roads and Drainage Office in turn reported the action taken. It was found, however, that this system was not satisfactory, particularly in Kowloon where a considerable volume of clerical work was required in making and
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