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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
CHAIRMAN: --You can take this up with me after this meeting, Mrs. ELLIOTT.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-I have already tried, Mr. Chairman, it's useless.
(3) MR. H. M. G. FORSGATE asked the following question:
Is it true that the Urban Services Department Staff at Big Wave Bay neglected their duties of beach cleaning as alleged in the Press recently?
Is the Chairman satisfied he has sufficient staff to keep the beaches at the high standard of cleanliness achieved in other countries?
MR. A. de O. SALES, CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION AND AMENITIES SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:-
The short answer to the first part of Mr. FORSGATE's question is that the department regards the charge as not proven. The incident occurred at Big Wave Bay on Sunday 30th May. Because of the weather conditions, an abnormally large amount of seaborne refuse was washed onto this beach, which was unusually crowded at the time. According to one newspaper account, about 30 members of the public organized themselves to collect the rubbish themselves while "three U.S.D. workers relaxed in the shade sipping soft drinks". The article went on to say that "after most of the rubbish had been collected by the members of the public and placed in large rattan baskets, U.S.D. workers finally decided to carry the baskets away. Lifeguards at the beach were also conspicuous by their absence while the clean-up was going on."
There were two cleansing Labourers on duty on the day in question and four U.S.D. lifeguards, together with 16 part-time lifeguards from the Hong Kong Life Guard Club and Auxiliary Medical Services at various periods of the day. On 2nd June, after taking statements from the U.S.D. staff, the department wrote to the Editor of the newspaper concerned stating that the staff had denied the allegation that they were not working, pointing out that for obvious reasons Beach Attendants (lifeguards) are not expected to collect rubbish when there are numbers of swimmers in the sea, and asking him to get in touch with the department with any evidence he possessed as to the alleged negligence of U.S.D. staff. This letter was never published. A representative of the newspaper, who had been present at the beach, telephoned to state that the clean-up had occurred midday and 1 p.m.; and that, to judge from their attire, the three alleged U.S.D. workers sipping soft drinks were probably not U.S.D. lifeguards. He promised to send the department a photograph taken at the time which might help in identifying them. This photograph is still awaited.
At the time quoted, one of the two Labourers went to Shek O during his lunch break between 11.30 a.m. and 1 p.m., while the other started his lunch break at 1 p.m., have been collecting seaborne refuse up to that time. The most senior officer present, a Chargeman/Artisan, states that he helped the two Labourers collect refuse up to 11.30 a.m., when he left for lunch and returned with the first Labourer. The lunch breaks of the U.S.D. lifeguards are from 11.00 - 12.30, and from 12.30-2 p.m.
To sum up while the department cannot prove conclusively that there has been no dereliction of duty on the part of its staff, equally there has so far been no evidence to substantiate the allegation made. The accumulation of refuse was beyond the capacity of two Labourers to remove, so on the following day, 31st May, a special gang of 7 staff was brought in from Shek O beach to clear the continuing influx of refuse. On 1st June, sea-borne refuse still continued to accumulate, and 15 Labourers from the Parks and Playgrounds Section were borrowed to deal with it. Thereafter, the abnormal influx appears to have ceased.
The answer to the second part of the question is that the Department is not satisfied that it has sufficient staff to keep the beaches as clean as we would all wish. Consequently, a paper recommending increases to both the cleansing and Beach Attendant establishment, as well as more effective control, was approved by the Recreation and Amenities Select Committee on 21st May at its meeting that month. This paper, expanded to include the New Territories beaches, will be sent to the Government as soon as possible.
MR. FORSGATE:-Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. SALES, is it possibly true that the three men sipping soft drinks were actually reporters of the un-named newspaper? (Laughter).
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