HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
in accordance with Part II of the Hong Kong Trustee Ordinance, to allow the Council to invest their surplus prudiciously, in order to maximise capital appreciation, as well as income.
We need this approval before, rather than after, our surplus melts away.
Likewise, Sir, you may recall discussing in Finance Committee on 1st November 1974, the excessive increase in Group B Service Charges. These should be related to the increased cost of running the Department which is giving the Council the service. I'm sure we can rely upon you, Sir, to redress this situation.
Works Planning
Following the creation of a Departmental planning and development unit in November 1973, Standing Committee created the Works Planning Sub-Committee in March 1974 to ensure that planning and development of Council projects proceeded on a co-ordinated basis, and that limited resources of land, finance and planning capacity were focused on projects of most immediate importance to the community.
A draft programme containing 130 projects valued at present prices at $300 million was accepted in principle by the Sub-Committee in December, and has now been referred to Finance Committee for a detailed examination of its financial implications. As I reported in course of a reply in this Council in October last year, 1974 was a poor year for projects, due to the rephasing of the Public Works Programme. However, prospects for 1975 are very much brighter, and 23 projects are scheduled for completion in 1975, all Central Government commitments, but undertaken by the Council under the switch project finance scheme.
In addition, Urbco financed projects, such as the indoor games hall at Cheung Sha Wan, to be followed by two more at Morse Park and Boundary Street, are in hand. Work has started on the Waterfall Bay Park at Wah Fu, and about to begin on Aberdeen Swimming Pool and Hong Ning Road Recreation Ground in Kwun Tong. Sir, if you could persuade Government to take up the Council's offer to switch finance the Tai Wan Swimming Pool at Hung Hom, work could begin very quickly. Working drawings are complete, and it's merely a matter of going out to tender. Surely no one could argue against the necessity of a swimming pool complex in this crowded area.
Plans are now being finalised for a number of other projects which various Select Committees have advocated, and I should like to commend our Planning Unit for the alacrity with which they have responded to the challenge of accelerated effort. Also the Public Works Department Architectural Office for their co-operation and intelligent appreciation of the Council's requirements. I should like you, Sir, to express the Council's confidence in the Architectural Office to the Government, so that it can expand its resources in tune to this Council's demands, as our ambitious works programme gains momentum.
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Environmental Pollution
Members of this Council were early advocates of the control of pollution, and our former colleague, John Marden, is Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Pollution. Several of us are on this Committee, and its work has bearing on that of our own Select Committee on Environmental Hygiene.
It is salutary to reflect that over 4,000 tons of refuse are collected daily. Of this, 3,000 tons is dumped at Gin Drinkers' Bay, using the controlled tipping method, which has brought about a considerable improvement in the condition of the dump. The balance is incinerated at Kennedy Town and Lai Chi Kok. However, land for even controlled tipping is hard to find, and incinerators are expensive to build and operate. They also give rise to complaints about smoke.
Consultants are studying the whole problem of solid waste disposal, and consideration given to other methods, such as high density baling, pulverisation, composting, recycling and so on. But our problem is so massive, that incineration and controlled tipping will probably have to play a major part in refuse disposal for the foreseeable future.
In respect of sewage, Hong Kong is fortunate in that it has a harbour which is flushed out twice a day by fast moving currents and which has proved to be a very effective sewage disposal system. It has been used to maximum advantage, but one has to be careful not to overwork it, otherwise disaster might result. This was recognised many years ago, and the waters are continually monitored to ensure that they remain self-cleansing. Nevertheless, there are black spots in which the limit has been reached, and the time has come when sophisticated sewage treatment plants will have to be employed. The Water and Land Sub-Committee of EPCOM is currently studying a paper which attempts to lay down standards and principles for a comprehensive programme of sewage treatment and disposal over the next decade and beyond. In it there are 25 items already in various categories of the Public Works Programme, and 2 new items all related to the urban areas.
The total cost of these items is estimated at something like $640 million.