Page 24 of 187
17
16
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. CHARLES C. C. SIN (in English):- Mr. Chairman, an off-hand answer to that, I think, is that we would have to change the law and that we would have to consult the Legislative Council and the Central Government.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):- Could I have the assurance of the Chairman of the Food Hygiene Select Committee that his Select Committee will consider this proposal.
MR. CHARLES C. C. SIN (in English):- Mr. Chairman, we would take legal advice.
MR. TSIN SAI-NIN (in Cantonese): - Mr. Chairman, according to Mr. SIN's reply, I wish to ask whether the licence should be issued once a month, but in the fourth paragraph, the B.O.O. said that they need a longer time to consider, and a counter-proposal is that this should be on a quarterly basis. So it seems that we can never sort out this problem.
MR. CHARLES C. C. SIN (in English):- As can be seen from my answer, the Police, the Home Affairs and other departments have accepted the 14-clear-day time period. My Committee will press the Building Authority likewise to accept the same.
(3) MR. PETER P. K. NG asked the following question (in English):-
What decision has been reached regarding the expansion of the Council's Planning and Development Unit, and has additional staff yet been engaged?
MR. JOHN MACKENZIE, CHAIRMAN OF THE ADMINISTRATION SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-
Mr. Chairman, Mr. NG has asked a succinct and pertinent question regarding the expansion and staffing of the Urban Council's Planning and Development Unit. I wish I could give a brief and satisfactory reply, but, unfortunately, the situation is far from satisfactory.
As you know, the Council has a backlog of over 300 works projects in such areas as markets, hawker bazaars, parks, swimming pools, playgrounds, beach amenities, sports facilities, indoor games centres, abattoir improvements, latrines and bathhouses, off-street refuse collection points,
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
cleansing depots, pest control centres, etc.; not to mention the Tsim Sha Tsui Cultural Complex and the new Hong Kong Planetarium.
To cope with this huge workload, the Planning and Development Unit currently comprises 1 Staff Officer (Planning), a Senior Executive Officer, who is supported by 4 Executive Officers, of whom 3 are redeployed from other sections of the department. The Urban Council and the Urban Services Department are agreed that this unit is seriously under-manned, and its officers consequently overworked. At its regular meetings in February and March this year, the Administration Select Committee considered this problem and endorsed departmental recommendations, which had been prepared some months previously, for a substantial increase in Planning and Development staff. At its March meeting, particularly, the Committee asked that the seriousness of staff shortages in the Planning and Development Unit be conveyed urgently to the Colonial Secretariat with a request for immediate action.
I can only say that now, on 14th May, we have managed to increase the strength of the unit by 1 Executive Officer, again by re-deploying him from another section. However, I understand that a reply has just come from the Secretariat, and is being studied in the department before coming to the Administration Select Committee.
May I say that I share Mr. NG's and the Council's disappointment and growing concern over the delays in providing adequate staff in this and other areas of the Council. I am advised that the Chairman, Urban Council, will raise this question personally in the highest quarters, and I trust that Mr. NG will pursue his enquiries and raise further questions at a later date.
(4) MR. F. K. HU asked the following question (in English):-
In view of the popularity of the public tennis courts managed by the Council, can the Chairman advise the Council: (a) Plans for the provision of more tennis courts in urban areas;
Page 24 of 187
17
16