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# HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
## ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (In English):-It is 4 o'clock and I would like to call this Council to order. Before we proceed with the business of today's agenda I would like to congratulate Mr. ALEX Wu and Mr. WONG SHIU-CHEUCK on their appointment as Officer and Member of the Order of the British Empire respectively. Likewise, I would like to wish Mr. LOBO every success in his provisional appointment as a Member of the Executive Council. (Applause).
## MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on 8th May, 1973 were confirmed.
## STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (In English):-Last month I spoke on the need for Select Committees to examine our Statement of Aims and to relate them to our resources in a practical way. In doing so we would determine whether we had the means to put them into practice and when we would be able to do so with advantage.
Whether the Council has the manpower to carry out its statutory functions properly and keep pace with expanding services is a primary consideration. Then, there is the call to provide an adequate standard of service to the Select Committees so that they may discharge their respective assignments satisfactorily. And, because the Council wishes to introduce improvements in existing services as well as to enlarge their scope progressively and even to experiment with innovations in some areas of activity, the means to do so in terms of manpower and finance must be carefully assessed all the time. For this reason, I have urged both the Select Committees and the Urban Services Department to undertake this important exercise in the first phase of our existence under the new constitution. It will point the way for Council to go in the years immediately ahead.
This means in effect too that we must all determine, as some Committees have started doing, the cost of our many services and the value of our physical facilities so that there may be no unwarranted hidden subsidies at the ratepayer's expense. On the other hand, for organisations rendering a public service deserving of support and encouragement such as, for one, the promotion of the arts and culture generally, let them be openly and directly given assistance by the Council, which we might like to do for the good of Hong Kong's development, while those who use our services and facilities for commercial purposes must expect to pay a fair charge for them. Any other approach would be, I think, contrary to the public interest and not make for progress in the direction Council would want.
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(1)
## PAPER
The following paper was laid on the table:-
Report on the work of the Urban Council and Urban Services Department for the month of May, 1973.
## QUESTIONS
MR. R. H. LOBO asked the following question (In English):-
(a) May I know what measures, if any, are being taken to improve the conditions of some of the public toilets in the urban areas?
(b) In view of the building development which has been taking place over the past years in the urban areas, may I know what measures have been taken to re-access the need for public toilets in certain districts?
DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (In Cantonese):-
This question concerns improvements to existing, and planning of future, public conveniences.
It has been recognized that some of the public conveniences in the urban areas, a number of which were built pre-war, are in need of modernization. Apart from effecting improvements to 86 public conveniences (including the replacement of trough urinals by stall-type, the provision of wash-hand basins, improving lighting and ventilation, and the tiling and reflooring of certain areas), plans have been made to demolish and rebuild a number of outdated public toilets. Five such projects have been completed recently and another 15 have been included in the Public Works Programme
(Mr. Peter C. K. CHAN arrived at this point.)
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