1259
76
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 49 of 259
77
CHAIRMAN:--I will consult the Colonial Secretary on this matter and give you a reply.
DR. BELL: Mr. Chairman, was in fact Mr. BOWDEN the Secretary of State at that time or was it Mr. LEE?
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:--At the time he came here he was Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs.
DR. BELL: In October, when you say you sent him the Report, was he then in the position he is in now?
CHAIRMAN: The constitutional change took place in August last year, so that he was Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs by October.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:--Mr. Chairman, could you also draw to the attention of Government that, in case Government should find it difficult to send another copy to him, I am sure that the Reform Club and the Civic Association would be glad to send a copy each.
(5) MR. SOLOMON RAFEEK asked the following question:
I have received complaints from residents of Houses Numbering from 1-M to 1-R Waterloo Road that a serious nuisance is caused every evening by hundreds of baskets of chicken and ducks being left overnight in the street every night causing not only a sanitary nuisance, but also a disturbance to the peace and quiet of that portion of Waterloo Road.
What steps can the Chairman take to improve this situation? Will the Chairman be prepared to ask the assistance of the Kaifong Association in that area, if necessary, to use their good offices in the elimination of this nuisance?
MR. WILFRED S. B. WONG, Chairman of the Markets Select Committee replied as follows:
The wholesale poultry market which serves Kowloon has been situated in temporary buildings at the western end of Waterloo Road since before the last war. There have been a number of complaints from owners and occupants of new buildings constructed near to the market about the nuisance caused by poultry, and the Urban Services Department is well aware of this problem.
The firms which operate the poultry business have been given notice that they will be required to move out of their present accommodation during 1968, since the site which they occupy is required for other development. This will ultimately solve the problem. In the meantime, this section of Waterloo Road is kept as clean as possible. It is, in fact, swept six times each day and twice during the night, in addition to a weekly washing by a special cleansing squad.
I have every sympathy with the people in the neighbouring buildings who are disturbed by the nocturnal cackling of poultry, not to speak of the wandering turkeys, but I regret that I cannot see any satisfactory solution to this until the poultry market is removed in 1968.
MR. BERNACCHI:--Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask two supplementaries. First of all, in what sense does Mr. WONG use the term "temporary buildings"?
MR. WONG: These are squatter buildings in a sense on Crown land which were allowed to be built temporarily. They are structures on Crown Land which was not meant as a permanent site for a wholesale market. I think I may say that the future solution is to move them to the permanent wholesale market in the Cheung Sha Wan area where larger space is being planned for them.
MR. BERNACCHI:--Perhaps that answers my second question also, because my second question was to be where would they go in 1968.
DR. BELL: Mr. Chairman, in the meantime can something more not be done to try to keep the place a bit cleaner? I mean you wash once a week with a special squad, could they not wash it every day?
CHAIRMAN:--I will have the staff look into that suggestion.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:--Mr. Chairman, apart from the cleansing problem, I think the most serious aspect of it is this nocturnal cackling after eleven o'clock at night. Isn't this more in the realm of the Police rather than this Department? Couldn't you draw it to the attention of the Police, and also, since this cackling takes place in the middle of the road, perhaps a space might be found within the building opposite the multi-storey building from where these complaints come from?
MR. WONG:--Well, I am sure that the Police will take action if there is an official complaint about nuisances, and if Mr. CHEONG-LEEN would lodge an official complaint, I think the Police will take action.