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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN.
Ladies and gentlemen, the meeting is called to order. Before proceeding with the Agenda, I would like to extend a welcome back to Mr. WRIGHT who has just returned from a short spell of leave in the United Kingdom and Mr. Paul Tsui, who is again deputizing for Mr. HOLMES, while the latter is on leave. I am sure that Members will be sorry to learn that Dr. WYILE is off sick and likely to be away for about two weeks; in his place I welcome Dr. K. H. CHEUNG, who, whilst no stranger to the Council and the Department, is appearing on the Council today for the first time.
MINUTES.
The Minutes of the meeting held on 2nd April, 1968, were confirmed.
PAPERS.
The Chairman laid upon the table the following papers:-
(1) Report on the work of the Urban Council and Urban Services Department for the month of April, 1968.
(2) Urban Council and Urban Services Department Statistical Report for the period 1st January, 1968, to 31st March, 1968.
(3) Report by the Commissioner for Resettlement on the progress of clearance and resettlement operations during the period 1st January, 1968, to 31st March, 1968.
MR. SALES:- Mr. Chairman, may I have your permission to make a statement for the Recreation and Amenities Select Committee. Much water has flowed under the bridge since we last met. Perhaps in Hong Kong I ought to say over the proposed tunnel. In the interval, the Assistant Director and the Executive Officers of the Recreation and Amenities Division and other members of the staff have put in a tremendous amount of work to make all these recreational activity programmes successful and I think Council should realize that these programmes have been made possible because the civil servants concerned have been prepared to put in a considerable amount of overtime. I would like to ask Council to show forbearance by not loading the work of the staff in that division by putting forward questions. Although I am the first to say that it is the right of Councillors at any time to file questions on any subject that might concern the activities of our Council, yet these questions at times could be put to the Department or to me privately and I would be very happy to clarify the position at any time. Mr. Chairman, there is another matter which has exercised the attention of the public without the prior knowledge of the Council
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and that refers to the aviary in the Botanical Gardens. I feel that an explanation is due to the Council in addition to the press release that was made last weekend. I felt, Sir, that it was necessary to clarify the position that at no time was the Urban Council concerned with the affair of the Argus Pheasant with the judiciary. It should have been clear that the pheasant was merely pining for its mate. It is a matter of great regret to me and to my colleagues on this Council that it was not clearly understood by the complainant that the mating call was not intended for him. (Laughter). I am hopeful that in the future, the matter having now been set right, the zoological species, homo sapiens, will realize that there is a separation of powers in the animal kingdom just as there ought to be in the administration of public affairs in Hong Kong.
CHAIRMAN:- Before moving to item 3 on the Agenda I would like to announce that as no objections or requests for discussion were received on the Committee paper announcing the proposed change in title of the Parks, Recreation and Amenities Select Committee, that Committee will in future be known as the Recreation and Amenities Select Committee. The title of the division of the Urban Services Department which carries executive responsibility of that Committee's work will be changed in due course.
QUESTIONS.
(1) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:-
(a) Is it correct that after a recent ballot for market stalls numbering about 200, only 40 were in business at the end of March?
(b) Who are the registered owners of the rest of the stalls? Are they residents of the Sau Mau Ping Estate and genuine hawkers? Can investigation be made into an allegation that they are black-marketeers engaged in selling stalls at $300 each?
(c) What checks are made on applicants for stalls both before and after allocation?
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI, CHAIRMAN OF THE HAWKERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:-
This question concerns the allocation of sites to hawkers in the Sau Mau Ping Resettlement Estate.
From inquiries I have made I have discovered that the answer to the first part of your question is on 16th January, 1968 the Resettlement Department allocated 196 sites in a hawker bazaar near Block 36 to hawkers previously trading at random in the Estate and thereby causing obstructions and fire hazard. At the end of April 64 of these