HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. SALES: Surely, Mr. Chairman, if we invite a representative of the Police, we ought to invite also a representative from the Hawkers' Association. It would be good fun watching the confrontation in Select Committee. (Laughter).
(5) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:-
(a) What reasons does the Government give for offering resettlement to tenants of dangerous pre-war buildings under the rent-in-advance scheme, while denying the same right to equally needy tenants of post-war dangerous buildings?
(b) Since the need for resettlement of the tenants of the post-war Chong Hing building was recognized and resettlement was given, why is no similar concession given to others in the same plight?
THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:
It is understood that the Housing Board will have this matter under consideration in the near future.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, I think you may be able to answer this better than the Commissioner since you have been on the Council longer, am I correct in stating that the first recommendation for resettlement of victims of dangerous buildings came from the Working Party of this Council?
CHAIRMAN:- I believe that is so, Mrs. ELLIOTT.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- In that case, would you confirm that matters once under the advisory capacity of this Council have now been handed over to the Housing Board?
CHAIRMAN:- I don't think so, Mrs. ELLIOTT. Council is still often consulted by the Commissioner for Resettlement on such problems. The power has never been vested in the Council.
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- May I clarify, Mr. Chairman. I think there is an established procedure here when matters such as this arise. The normal drill, I believe, is that the problem goes to the Housing Board and when the Housing Board has formulated its views to Government then I believe that appropriate matters are normally referred by Government to this Council for its views on the Housing Board's proposal.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, the people in this situation, these victims, come to our Wards to ask us to get housing for them. What contact does the Housing Board have with people such as that? How would they know of the problem?
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
CHAIRMAN:- The question is out of order, Mrs. ELLIOTT.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Well, I am asking Mr. Chairman because we are the ones who have to face the music and how is the Housing Board going to find out.
CHAIRMAN:- Maybe, but on the matters you get referred to you in your Ward offices, you know the drill; you refer them to the appropriate department for action.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- And we just get a "no" reply except this policy which we already know.
MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN:
Mr. Chairman, isn't there another drill whereby matters such as these, even though outside the scope of the Council, could be raised in Standing Committee as a whole and even at the Policy Select Committee level and through the departmental channels referred to Government and even to the Housing Board?
CHAIRMAN:- Probably by convention, rather than by anything else, Mr. CHEONG-LEEN.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:- And isn't this an established convention which has happened in the past, and isn't it also conceivable that this point could be raised by Mrs. ELLIOTT, either at Standing Committee meetings or at the next meeting of the Joint Resettlement Committee?
CHAIRMAN:- If it was raised at Standing Committee, I would object to it. You cannot question the operation of the Housing Board in the confines of this Council.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:- Mr. Chairman, Mrs. ELLIOTT is, as I understand it, not raising an objection, she is simply putting forward a query and a suggestion which could be passed on to Government in the normal manner in which any suggestion, even though outside the scope of the Urban Council, can be referred to Government, to decide what it wishes to do.
CHAIRMAN: That could be done if it is merely a question of trying to find out something, but not questioning what the Board does.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:- I don't think Mrs. ELLIOTT had that in mind, she was simply putting forward the view that this is a suggestion that she would like to make and it could be referred to Government if it were raised at Standing Committee as a whole.
MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, do I understand correctly about the limitation of jurisdiction of the Urban Council? It is only limited to open meeting. It means in Select Committee meeting any matter can be discussed which affects the general public's welfare?
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