TH
Page 201 of 217
330
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. KENNETH T. C. Lo (in English):-The information supplied to me, Mr. Chairman, is that the emulsified oil is held in suspension. Well, naturally as it comes into shallower water, perhaps some of it would be mixed up with the bottom, and that is the information available at this moment.
(2) MR. LO TAK-SHING asked the following question (in English):
In July 1972 I asked whether it would be possible for the department to prepare and keep up-to-date a booklet detailing all the Council's policies and rulings. The then Chairman said it was a fair request and that he had already taken action to have a booklet produced. That was eighteen months ago. May I ask what progress has been made?
MR. JOHN MACKENZIE, CHAIRMAN OF THE ADMINISTRATION SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):
Mr. Chairman, Mr. T. S. Lo enquires regarding progress in producing a comprehensive booklet "detailing all of the Council's policies and rulings.”
This is an acceptable and, indeed, desirable aid to Council deliberations and activities, but it has not been found easy to compile such a manual and I regret that I can report only limited progress.
The research, which must apply to all areas of the Council and Urban Services Department, is very considerable and because of the existing pressure of work and preoccupa- tion with USD re-organization the Department has not been able to spare staff to tackle the work involved.
In order to make progress in this matter, and as a result of recent discussion within the Administration Select Com- mittee and the Standing Committee of this Council, it has now been agreed that the following procedures will be adopted:
(a) All Select Committees are being asked to review and up-date any existing policy statements (such as the "Revised Hawker Policy, 1969" and "Major Aims of Hawker Policy, 1973") or, alternatively, to pro- duce new Statements of Policy covering their areas
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
331
of responsibility. It is hoped that these papers can then be considered and endorsed by the Standing Committee of the Whole Council soon after the commencement of the new Council Year. (b) Further and subsequently, all of these policy papers will be arranged and indexed to form a Council Policy Manual for 1974/75.
I hope that Mr. Lo will agree that this represents a practical step forward in a situation where we are faced with lack of staff and research facilities. The first Policy booklet may not be as comprehensive as Mr. Lo or other mem- bers might wish, but I suggest it will form a suitable base on which to build up a more comprehensive policy manual to be revised at the beginning of each Council year.
MR. LO TAK-SHING (in English):-Mr. Chairman, I think it is only necessary to thank Mr. MACKENZIE for all the work he has done in this regard. For my part, I am quite happy with the progress that we anticipate. For the record, however, I should just like to correct the question I asked, to update it, because it is not 18 months any more, it is really 21 months, 3 months ago I asked the question.
CHAIRMAN (in English): -Your comment will be noted.
**
(3) MR. LO TAK-SHING asked the following question (in English):
As pigs' blood is a popular Cantonese dish I should like to know in detail how this is collected at our abattoirs and sold to the public.
MR. P. F. CHAN (in English): -Mr. Chairman, this question con- cerns the collection and sale of pigs' blood at the abattoirs.
Edible blood is collected and sold there to the public from pigs which have been inspected, found free from disease and passed as suitable for human consumption by our Health Inspectors.
Before the blood is collected, all knives and plastic containers are thoroughly cleansed and sterilized by steam. The pigs, having been electrically stunned, are moved to a point where they are stuck and bled in batches of about 30. The blood from each batch is collected in a plastic container placed on the bleeding trough. Salt is added as an anti-coagulant.