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I thank Mr. WONG for this opportunity to say that I think that our gazetted beaches could do with more rafts and I am asking the Department to take appropriate measures to improve the position where feasible.
MR. WONG:-Thank you for your comprehensive answer. I would just like to ask one supplementary of the Chairman of the Parks, Recreation and Amenities Select Committee. As he is a well-known swimmer, he is no doubt aware that at Shek O the water is rougher than the other beaches, and that it is common practice for swimmers to swim to the Island using the raft as a mid-point stop-over. In view of this, I hope that we will have his assurance in expediting this experiment so that, by next summer, Shek O may have its original three rafts back.
MR. SALES:-Mr. Chairman, that assurance is implicit in the last sentence of the third paragraph when I said that "it is proposed next year to add two more rafts". I should be delighted if other suggestions could be made as to beaches which might require additional rafts to help swimmers in rough waters.
(4) MR. WILFRED S. B. WONG asked the following question:-
Would it be possible to reduce the floating refuse off Shek O Beach?
MR. A. de O. SALES, CHAIRMAN OF THE PARKS, RECREATION AND AMENITIES SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:
The problem of floating refuse is not confined to Shek O. I regret to say that it is common, in a greater or lesser degree, to all beaches in Hong Kong, and presents a problem which has concerned Members of the Parks, Recreation and Amenities Select Committee for many years.
Various methods have been employed in an attempt to reduce this nuisance. Some years ago a weighted net was installed along the length of the swimming area at Turtle Cove Beach, but the net was quickly destroyed and the experiment must be regarded as a failure. Other attempts have since been made with nets strung between two catamarans, but these have proved no more successful.
It is now a daily practice for the Urban Council's beach staff to patrol the bathing areas on catamarans and to scoop refuse from the sea in hand nets. Although this reduces the amount of rubbish, the problem is too great to be eliminated in this way.
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The only effective method, I believe, lies in eliminating the refuse at its source. The floating refuse at Shek O Beach is thought to originate in Junk Bay, and an experiment with tidal movements is now being conducted in an attempt to confirm this suspicion. In the event of its proving accurate, every effort to eliminate the rubbish at its source will be made by the Urban Services Department.
(5) MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:-
I have received representations from the Tin Wan Kaifong Welfare Association to the effect that there is a need for a full-sized soccer pitch to serve the residents in that estate. What steps can be taken to develop the present mini-pitch into a full-sized soccer pitch? Should this be impracticable, what alternative facilities can be provided to meet the wishes of the residents in this resettlement estate?
MR. A. de O. SALES, CHAIRMAN OF THE PARKS, RECREATION AND AMENITIES SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:
I am advised that it would not be possible to provide a full-sized football field in the Tin Wan Resettlement Estate by extending the existing mini-soccer pitch and that there is, moreover, no alternative site within the estate where a football field could be built.
However, the residents of this estate and those of the neighbouring Shek Pai Wan Estate will soon be served by the Aberdeen Sports Ground, the facilities of which are being planned to include two senior grassed association football pitches.
This project is in Category B of the Public Works Programme and is now being planned in detail.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, with reference to the last paragraph of Mr. SALES' reply, is there a possibility that these two pitches referred to in the penultimate paragraph can be completed by next year?
MR. SALES:-Mr. Chairman, the Select Committee is always pressing for the early completion of projects, and we have no doubt that there is no delay in carrying out this particular plan at Aberdeen.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-From the experience of the Chairman of the Select Committee, bearing in mind that this project is now in Category B...
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