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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
DR. BELL:-Mr. Chairman, I am sorry, does the Director of Public Works really expect children who are going there to swim and who are not at school will be able to read the notices? Could I, through you, ask that you might petition the Director of Public Works to try a watchman there, at least to prevent the children from swimming and to warn them verbally that it is dangerous.
CHAIRMAN:-Dr. BELL I will consult with my friend the Director of Public Works and see what we can do to ease your mind. (Laughter).
CHAIRMAN: --Ladies and Gentlemen, may I propose a short recess of ten minutes for refreshment before we proceed with the Motions.
(At the suggestion of the Chairman, a brief recess was held at this point)
MOTIONS.
(1) DR. A. M. S. BELL, Chairman of the Resettlement Policy Select Committee, moved the following motion:—
RESOLVED that
The Urban Council, being the relevant Authority in respect of Section 84(1) of the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance 1960, in exercise of its powers contained in that said Section Doth Hereby Authorize all Resettlement Officers, Assistant Resettlement Officers and Resettlement Assistants and all Area Officers, Area Officers Class I and Area Officers Class II, being Public Officers in the Estates and Areas Division of the Resettlement Department, to exercise all the powers which are exercisable by a public officer authorized in writing in that behalf under Section 84 of the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance.
DR. BELL: For some time now the Council has been concerned at the deterioration in the conditions of hawker bazaars within resettlement estates and cottage areas where, in the absence of the Hawker Control Force, there has not been exercised the proper degree of control necessary to prevent the sale of food under unhygienic conditions, occupation of ground intended for other purposes, unfair competition with shop owners, accumulation of stall refuse, quarrels and the various other health problems attendant upon such large-scale concentrations of street traders near to domestic housing.
The expansion of the Hawker Control Force has been disappointingly slow due to recruitment difficulties, and the time is still far distant when the Force can be expected to assume responsibility for
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all hawker areas. Nevertheless, the problems I have just described cannot go unchecked, and for this reason the motion before Members today seeks to authorize staff of the Estates and Areas Division of the Resettlement Department, under Section 84 of the principal ordinance, to take action against persons reasonably suspected of committing scheduled offences, which include the following:-
(i) selling or exposing for sale food considered unfit for human consumption;
(ii) offences relating to the composition and hygiene of food and drugs;
(iii) offences under the Hawker By-laws;
(iv) offences against the Public Cleansing and Prevention of Nuisances By-laws, such as depositing refuse, etc. in any street or public place.
I should like to stress that the proposed new powers for Resettlement Staff are in fact identical to those already exercised by officers of the Urban Services Department in the rest of the urban area, and this simply brings into line the position of hawkers in resettlement estates. These powers will be wielded with discretion, the intention being first to advise and to persuade, and only to issue summonses if these tactics fail. The powers of arrest are intended to be used only as a very last resort in cases of inveterate and persistently inconsiderate offenders.
I would also like to emphasize that this authorization to Resettlement Department staff is aimed not at stopping hawking in estates but to ensure that it is done in the right places and in the right manner, and when implemented will certainly assist the Council in its long-term efforts at attaining a cleaner, more orderly and attractive environment for all our residents.
With these few words, Sir, I beg to move.
MR. BERNACCHI:-Mr. Chairman, I rise to second Dr. BELL'S motion, I would say, with some hesitation, which I know is shared by the proposer herself. The Resettlement Staff are essentially managers of big Government-aided low-cost housing estates. They are not the Hawker Control Force and it would be a terrible thing for them to lose the confidence of our tenants because this Council turned them into an auxiliary of the Hawker Control Force. The Hawker Control Force itself, I have on several occasions had reason to comment, is a force designed to control hawkers and get them into orderly groups where each has equal opportunity to sell without causing too much obstruction, and the auxiliary power of arrest is only to be exercised sparingly. How much more does this apply to Resettlement Department staff? The original motion which Dr. BELL in effect refused to move specifically mentioned giving to Resettlement Department staff
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