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ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN.
CHAIRMAN:-Ladies and gentlemen, the meeting is called to order.
You will perhaps have heard of the untimely death of the Hon. Sir Cho Yiu KWAN who had a seizure while attending this morning's meeting of the Executive Council. Sir Cho Yiu served for five years with great distinction on this Council from 1956 to 1961, and is particularly remembered for his sterling work as Chairman of the Law Revision Select Committee which brought into being the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance and its connected By-laws. He will be sadly missed in the counsels of Government. I am sure that all Members will wish me to convey their deepest sympathy to Sir Cho Yiu's family.
MINUTES.
The Minutes of the meeting held on 2nd and 4th November, 1971, were confirmed.
PAPERS.
THE CHAIRMAN laid upon the table the following paper:-
(1) Report of the work of the Urban Council and Urban Services Department for the month of November 1971.
MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman: I wish to make a few observations in connection with the visit made by members of the Resettlement Select Committees to the Ngau Tau Kok Resettlement Estate on November 24th last.
We inspected the sites where about 230 hawker stalls were regrouped in order to improve public hygiene, reduce excessive obstruction, and to make it easier for hawkers to sell their goods to residents living within the Estate.
The Resettlement Department staff are working very hard to improve the living environment in the Estate, and it is hoped that hawkers and estate residents will fully co-operate with the staff in this respect, otherwise conditions will revert back to the previous unsatisfactory state.
Hawkers should be discouraged from throwing rubbish indiscriminately on the ground, and instead should deposit such rubbish in a receptacle placed besides each hawker stall.
There are several children's playgrounds in the Ngau Tau Kok Resettlement Estate, and it seems that these playgrounds are not as frequently used as they should be. Resettlement Department staff will be investigating into the reasons why and a report will be made available to the relevant Select Committee at a later date.
Some of the open spaces in-between estate blocks were fully taken up by private cars and lorries. The need for more parking space is quite likely to grow.
Therefore, the question of finding car parking spaces at suitable charges should be a matter for consideration by the Resettlement Department.
QUESTIONS.
(1) MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN on behalf of MR. B. A. BERNACCHI asked the following question:
Would the Commissioner for Resettlement state for the benefit of the Members of the Council and the Public at large what criterion if any there are for tendering for restaurants in new resettlement estates and including the procedures for tendering and where to get the tender forms and other documents?
THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT, replied as follows:
Any person aged 21 or above may submit tenders, when these are invited, for the two-storey annexe restaurants in resettlement estates. The normal Government tender procedures apply, and the decision as to which tender to accept is taken on the advice of the Government Central Tender Board. The main consideration is the amount of premium offered, but other factors, such as financial capability and trade experience, are also taken into account.
(Mr. B. A. BERNACCHI arrived at this point).
Notices inviting tenders will appear in the Government Gazette and in local newspapers as soon as restaurants are available for letting. We are currently revising the lease conditions to remove certain unsatisfactory features, and we hope to invite tenders early in 1972. Tender forms, lease documents and information leaflets, in both English and Chinese will then be obtainable at the offices of the estates concerned and at the Resettlement Department Headquarters at 10 Middle Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, free of charge.
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