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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
It is expected that simultaneous interpretation can commence at Urban Council monthly meetings in about six months' time.
The question of finding suitable permanent premises for the Urban Council and Urban Services Department was also discussed. The Select Committee intends to vigorously pursue this matter with Colonial Secretariat, since it has been an issue remaining unresolved for more than ten years already.
I am particularly happy that you have returned at this time, Mr. Chairman, since you will be able to support the Select Committee in its quest with Government for permanent quarters for the Urban Council as well as the Urban Services Department. Furthermore, we hope that with your return at this time there will be an impetus in the move towards Local Government reform.
I would like to make the following remarks in my capacity as Chairman of the Joint Resettlement Policy & Management Select Committees.
Hawkers in Resettlement Estates
Last month on August 5th, members of the Joint Resettlement Select Committees visited Lam Tin Resettlement Estate.
We were particularly impressed with the re-ordering of hawker stalls which had taken place in this Estate. This has meant a visible improvement in the living environment for residents in the Estate. Hawkers were assigned designated sites and no longer blocked up the streets within the Estate.
Besides Lam Tin Estate, re-ordering operations have also taken place in Sau Mau Ping Estate.
Before the end of the year, it is hoped that major re-ordering operations of hawker stalls will take place in the Ngau Tau Kok, Jordan Valley and Tsz Wan Shan Estates, and possibly Kwun Tong Estate as well.
Other Amenity Improvements
The Resettlement Department is also conscious of the need to improve other amenities in Resettlement Estates. One innovation that is still in the experimental stage is the use of neon lighting to provide better lighting on staircases.
Other amenities such as providing doors to toilets in the older estates and the building of modular markets are being processed with all possible speed.
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The Urban Council and the Resettlement are committed to continuously improve living conditions in all Resettlement Estates. Government is now studying a plan to rebuild or reconvert Mark I and Mark II Estates into an improved type of public housing, with amenities such as markets, schools, police posts, recreation facilities, light industrial factory blocks, etc. This long-term plan will affect over 500,000 people living in the Mark I and Mark II Estates.
However, such plans will not easily come to fruition unless Government pays more attention to personnel requirements in the Resettlement Department. I believe that the senior officers in the Resettlement Department are very much aware of the day-to-day problems and salary grievances that face the junior and middle-rank resettlement personnel. I hope that the Colonial Secretariat will give every attention to this matter, which has a close bearing on the future integration of all public housing operations under one overall Housing Department.
Following Typhoon Rose, the resources of the Resettlement Department were stretched to the limit to meet requests for resettlement accommodation from residents in Sam Ka Tsuen and other areas whose homes were completely destroyed or damaged beyond repair by the typhoon. So far, over 5,300 persons have been allocated accommodation in Yau Tong Estate and Shek Lei Estates.
The department staff is to be congratulated for the patience they showed and extra long hours they endured in the carrying out of their public duties to assist those families who had suffered as a result of the passage of Typhoon Rose.
QUESTIONS.
(1) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:—
Is it correct that the subject of pig-breeders' shop claims is to be discussed at a meeting of the Full Council in the near future? If so, why have the pig-breeders been given a final date prior to that meeting by which to accept compensation in cash instead of the shops they were promised in writing?
THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:
Sir, I am informed that discussion on Mrs. ELLIOTT's paper "Mis-use of policy in Council matters" which was deferred at the meeting of the Standing Committee of this Council will be continued at the next meeting of the Standing Committee on the 14th September. The answer to the second part of the question is that the Department is im-
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