HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. LI:-Mr. Chairman, before I speak I should like to assure Mr. BERNACCHI that I am not going to refer this Motion to a Committee, but will support it.
In doing so I should like to mention that the Urban Council already has in operation the machinery to deal with applications for resettlement on compassionate grounds. This motion, I think, seeks to extend these applications to cover dependants of persons killed, and families of persons injured in their normal course of duty, as a result of the recent disturbances. The idea is therefore worthy of support.
The present procedure is that the number of cases for resettlement on compassionate grounds is fixed annually by the Resettlement Policy Select Committee, and individual cases are referred to the Commissioner for Resettlement for consideration. So far, the quota fixed each year by the Resettlement Policy Select Committee has not been exceeded.
If this motion is passed, I do not envisage that the number of cases for compassionate resettlement will increase appreciably, as I am not sure whether or not many of these families will need, probably less desire, resettlement type of living accommodation. Even if the number increases, this should present no difficulty as the Resettlement Policy Select Committee can fix a more generous quota as and when the need arises.
Now, before I conclude, I should like to mention that I support the Motion not as a member of the Civic Association, but as a member of this Council.
MR. Lo:-Mr. Chairman, I am sure all of us on this Council are concerned about persons killed or injured as a result of the disturbances. This is particularly so if the person killed or injured is the breadwinner of the family so that his dependants are left without support. We must give whatever help is possible and appropriate. There can be no disagreement about this. The question is whether an offer of resettlement is the appropriate help to be given. If the person killed or injured is a young child would it be appropriate to offer resettlement to his family? What if the injured person is a Government servant: Under what precise circumstances should resettlement be offered? Now, these are questions which must be carefully considered. The Resettlement Policy Select Committee would be the appropriate committee for this. I suggest therefore that this matter should be referred to that Committee for consideration and, if considered appropriate, for implementation. I now formally propose that this Motion be referred to the Resettlement Policy Select Committee.
MR. BLAKER:-Mr. Chairman, I wish to second the amendment proposed by Mr. Lo. I am entirely in sympathy with the sentiments of the original Motion, and I feel, as I am sure all of us feel, that everything possible should be done for the innocent victims of the present disturbances. I do feel, however, that the appropriate forum for discussion of this question, and the place where a decision should be taken is the Resettlement Policy Select Committee. I therefore second the proposal that the motion be referred to that Committee.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. BERNACCHI:-Mr. Chairman, speaking on the amendment, the significant words are surely "if needed". If it is not needed, then, of course, it will not be granted, and if some other more suitable form of relief is needed then, if it is, for instance, monetary compensation, then the compensation for it can be invoked.
The other thing is, of course, that a Resettlement Policy Select Committee's decision has not the same weight as a decision of this Council in public meeting. It may perhaps be an odd thing, but in my experience on this Council, if you want to get a thing passed and action taken which involves other departments, then the amount of support that the Council, as a Council, gives as opposed to a Select Committee of the Council is a consideration, and if we pass this Motion to-day as it is, especially if we pass it by a large majority, then I think that there is a very much greater hope that it will in fact be implemented. The Governor in Council has the last say on the matter, especially on the matter of priorities, and indeed reference has been made to the Resettlement Policy Select Committee's quota of compassionate cases. Again, of course, it is governed by the overall white paper on resettlement and it cannot be too considerable. So, the reason for this second speech is that I urge members to pass this in public meeting to-day, where we have a far better hope that it will, in fact, be implemented than if it was referred again to a Select Committee and comes as a recommendation of the Select Committee to the Governor in Council.
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, I merely speak in clarification and thus give Mr. BERNACCHI an opportunity to speak for the third time. (Laughter). Surely, if this matter is within the purview of the Policy Select Committee governing resettlement, it is up to that Select Committee to establish the number of compassionate cases that would be adequate in any one year. To my certain knowledge, the number of compassionate cases has been increased by that Select Committee from time to time, even though the limit may not have been reached in any given year. My understanding is that, at the present time, the Select Committee allows for 700 such cases in the current year, recommended by the Director of Social Welfare and other competent authorities. 700 families, in effect, about 3,000 people. If that Select Committee considers that in the light of present circumstances the number ought to be increased to take into account the dependants of people who have been unfortunate enough to have been killed or injured, then the Policy Select Committee could very well increase the number of compassionate cases to 1,000 or even to 1,500. It is within the competence of the Resettlement Policy Select Committee...
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