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MR. BERNACCHI (in English):-Has the Select Committee taken this question of dates into consideration? I think that is perhaps an over-optimistic view of the dates. In other words, there will be no real dates for performances of drama except in the small theatre for some years yet, unless this alteration is done to the concert hall. Has the Select Committee taken that into consideration?
MR. HU (in English):-The Select Committee did study it and the opinion at that time was they would re-consider this proposed alteration when the auditorium is ready in 1981-82.
MR. BERNACCHI (in English):-Could this matter now be brought up again in this Select Committee and perhaps I might be invited to attend?
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Yes, we would be delighted to do that. Perhaps we could find out whether Mr. BERNACCHI's attendance would be as an acoustics expert or otherwise (Laughter)
(2) MISS CECILIA L. Y. YEUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):
Does the Department take positive action against unlicensed cooked food stalls which appear to operate quite openly?
DR. HENRY H. L. HU, CHAIRMAN OF THE HAWKERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-
Mr. Chairman, the answer is "Yes", but only to the extent that is possible within the limits of the resources available to the Department and the resources that the Police can commit to this task. Regular and surprise hawker raids, usually in the form of joint Police/USD operations have been mounted against unlicensed cooked food hawkers. For the period from January to November 1976, 6,534 prosecutions were instituted against unlicensed cooked food hawkers by the Police and 550 prosecutions by the Hawker Control Force.
MISS YEUNG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I would like to know if the cooked food stall hawkers are unlicensed, could you tell us what are the sentences
Dr. Hu (in English):—This matter on prosecution of hawkers is a matter for the court, it is not for this Council.
(3) MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question (in English):-
(a) How many licensed and unlicensed hawkers are there at present in the urban areas?
(b) What are the plans over the next two to three years to reduce the number of hawkers, particularly young able-bodied hawkers, so that their efforts can be diverted into industrial production?
DR. HENRY H. L. HU, CHAIRMAN OF THE HAWKERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-
Mr. Chairman, (a) In the urban areas as at the end of September 1976, the number of licensed hawkers was 33,061, while the estimated number of unlicensed hawkers was 11,266.
(b) It is one of the major policy aims of the Council to seek a gradual reduction in the number of hawkers, as circumstances permit. The measures taken to implement this aim include:
(i) the cessation of the issue of new hawker licences, except on exceptional welfare grounds;
(ii) the most careful examination and consideration of succession cases so that only those who meet the criteria laid down are allowed to succeed to a licence;
(iii) the cancellation of licences of non-operating licensees of fixed pitch stalls when they come to notice;
(iv) enforcement and prosecution against unlicensed cooked food and food-for-man hawkers and other unlicensed hawkers within the limitation of enforcement resources;
(v) the application of the "one family, one licence" rule resulting in a number of licence cancellations; and
(vi) the constant review of hawker licence fees.
These measures ensure that, apart from very exceptional cases young able-bodied persons cannot obtain a hawker licence. As regards unlicensed hawkers, enforcement action by
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