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What sometimes happens is that the manager provides poor service. Because of this, some of the owners and occupiers refuse to pay their dues. The revenue available to the manager is now smaller and the service provided becomes worse. Occasionally, this state of affairs reaches a stage of deadlock. The lifts in the building no longer work and the public passages and staircases are no longer lit or cleaned.
To remedy this situation would require legislation. This should give power to the manager to enforce payments of dues without having to start a court action. One of the ways recommended by the report is to allow the manager to levy distress in the same way as a landlord could do if his tenant failed to pay rent. In addition to this, the manager would be made legally responsible for the proper management of the building. By such means, it should be possible to prevent blocks of multi-storeyed buildings from deteriorating into slums.
Turning to hawkers, I find that our first aim is to keep in the forefront of all major policy considerations the rights and economic needs of licensed hawkers. This rightly stresses the help which we must give to hawkers, who are only trying to earn an honest living in difficult circumstances. However, we must bear in mind that hawking is a basically inefficient method of retailing goods. It is said that the cheapest way of buying daily necessities is to buy them from hawkers. However, there are certain hidden costs, which are not taken into account. Hawkers pay no rent for their business premises. In effect, their business premises are provided for them by the general public. Cleaning is also provided by the Urban Services Department free of charge.
In the long run then we must try to reduce the number of hawkers. It will be unrealistic to hope that persons who are earning an adequate living by hawking should turn from that means of livelihood. What we can do is to persuade young people to take up other occupations instead of hawking. These are long-term aims, and we must recognize that for many years to come, the hawker problem will remain with us.
In the meantime, we must try to improve the standard of cleanliness and hygiene among hawkers, and endeavour as far as possible to keep the streets clear of hawkers by creating more off-street bazaars where sites for these are available.
With these remarks, I support the motion before the Council. (Applause).
MR. SOLOMON RAFEEK: - Mr. Chairman, during the past year references have been made by community leaders to giving local people a greater say in the Government of Hong Kong. These references have ranged from demands for outright independence on the one hand to quite sensible suggestions on the other. One thing, however, is abundantly clear, namely that some effort will have to be made shortly to broaden the basis of Government in Hong Kong to give citizens a greater share in running their own affairs.
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I propose, Mr. Chairman, to devote my remarks to what I consider to be the best means to implement this policy. It is surely obvious to any thinking person that our system of government cannot be changed overnight, without creating instability and leaving ourselves in a situation where we might be worse off than before. Changes must be made gradually and must start at the municipal level and particularly within the urban areas.
There have been many complaints, some of them not without justification, that Government seems to be out of touch with the people and needs to be better briefed on local and district affairs and problems. My suggestion for improving this situation and also providing a bridge leading to greater participation in Government, is that there should be a continuing increase in municipal campaigns aimed at eradicating our major problems. Our experience of such campaigns, as have been held to date, is that they do a great deal to cement good public relations between Government and the people. They also provide Government servants with a first-class opportunity to acquaint themselves with local problems by on-the-spot investigations. The various "Keep Your City Clean" campaigns, Fire-Prevention campaigns, Anti-mosquito campaigns, Road Safety Campaigns to mention but a few are cases in point. In each of these campaigns, ordinary local people, officers of civilian organizations and sometimes as many as a dozen different Government departments are brought into close contact and really work together for the success of the campaign. Such close co-operation, working towards a common aim, is bound to improve relations all round. Furthermore, such practical exercises of solving local problems by a united effort of Government and the common people go very far in actually solving local problems. A closer contact between Government and the people will additionally reduce the possibility of corrupt practices.
A direct result of these campaigns, I have mentioned, could well be a reduction in expenditure by the relevant departments. This saving in expenditure could then be allocated to pressing local problems such as housing, medical facilities, more secondary schools, and community centres. Reduction in the number of drug-addicts resulting from the Anti-Narcotic campaign would reduce considerably expenditures in the Police, Justice and Medical Departments.
The overall effect of these campaigns is an increase in knowledge among more of our citizens and a strengthening of moral and civic
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