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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
(b) Is the Chairman aware of the unhygienic condition of the unlicensed cooked food stall hawkers in urban areas? (c) Does the Council through the Urban Services Department in any way control the conditions of these unlicensed stalls?
(d) What progress has been made towards implementing the motion passed in the Council at the beginning of May which in effect approves the issue of new cooked food stall licences?
(e) When these new cooked food stall licences are issued, is it the Council's intention through the Urban Services Department's staff to encourage the unlicensed cooked food stall hawkers to obtain licences and if they do not, to see that they no longer sell cooked food?
MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN, CHAIRMAN OF THE HAWKER POLICY SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:
The answer to the first part of this question is that the Urban Services Department has no figures for the number of illegal cooked food hawkers, but it is reasonable to suppose that since it had been the policy of the Hawker Policy Select Committee not to issue new cooked food stall licences over the past ten years, their numbers have been increasing as the population increases and new areas are developed.
The answer to the second part of your question is that all Members of the Council and the Urban Services Department and particularly Members of the Hawker Policy and Management Select Committees, are well aware of the unhygienic conditions of unlicensed cooked food stalls in the urban areas and the consequent danger to public health. It is for this reason that together with other members of these two Select Committees I visited the Kwun Tong District and discussed with the Kwun Tong City District Officer, Police and Urban Services Department representatives the need for and desirability of having a number of Mini-Markets cum Hawker Bazaars where cooked food stalls could operate under hygienic conditions to provide meals to industrial workers at economic prices. I believe that this visit was sometime towards the latter part of April this year.
The answer to the third part of your question is that both the Police, and the Hawker Control Force in the areas for which it is responsible do take action against unlicensed hawkers selling cooked food. For example, during February, 1969, the Police prosecuted 579 unlicensed hawkers for selling cooked food and the Hawker Control Force 28. It is clear, however, that these prosecutions do not result in any significant decrease in the sale of cooked food by unlicensed hawkers, I have therefore requested the Urban Services Department to carry out a complete review of the situation.
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The answer to the fourth part of your question is that since 6th May, 1969, when the motion you moved and amended by me was passed by the Council, the Chairman of the Hawker Management Select Committee, Mr. Roger LOBO, and I have been in close consultation with the Urban Services Department on this subject. According to the Hawker Policy Select Committee's Priority Working Programme, this subject should be considered in July this year. Whether or not, and how soon new cooked food stall licences can be issued, will be a matter for the Hawker Policy Select Committee to decide.
The answer to the final part of your question is that until the Hawker Policy Select Committee has completed its discussions, I cannot say what the Council's intentions are with regard to the issue of licences to hawkers now selling cooked food without a licence. In general terms, however, I think the policy of this Council should be to provide hygienic facilities for licensed cooked food stalls wherever there seems to be a demand by the public for such type of food, and at the same time effective measures should be taken to stop the sale of cooked food by unlicensed hawkers.
MR. BERNACCHI:-I have a number of supplementaries. Supplementary number one. The Chairman of the Hawker Policy Select Committee said "but it is reasonable to suppose that their numbers have been increasing". Has not the Chairman, indeed has not every Member of this Council seen with their own eyes, the state of Hong Kong streets and the increase in the number of illegal cooked food hawkers over the past few years?
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:--Mr. Chairman, I have been Chairman of the Select Committee only since the 1st April (Laughter), and to be perfectly honest, I have only made a couple of visits. Frankly, I have never paid much attention to the cooked food stalls situation previous to that but, as a result of these couple of visits, it does seem that there is a fair number of unlicensed cooked food stalls around, and, therefore, I can only reasonably assume that there has been an increasing number of unlicensed cooked food stalls.
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