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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
According to last year's record, swimming continued to be the most popular form of recreation with 4,000,000 people going to the public swimming pools.
Though the public is fond of swimming, most of them can only swim in the summer time.
In winter, there are only three public swimming pools with heated water. These are pools at Morrison Hill, Aberdeen, and Tai Wan Shan.
But Aberdeen and Tai Wan Shan swimming pools are open-air ones. In winter, the temperature is too low, because of the cold wind, for the swimmers to come out from the pools. Consequently, not many people go to these heated pools.
It would be a good thing if there is an indoor swimming pool on Kowloon side.
Perhaps, for the time being, we may consider the possibility of a collapsible super-structure for the Tai Wan Shan swimming pool.
Another problem I should like to discuss is the suspension of licences for restaurants as well as liquor licences for bars and clubs.
At present, it is the Council's policy to suspend a restaurant licence after three convictions within 12 months. I think that if all licensed premises have been properly kept under control, consideration should be given to adoption of a more lenient view towards the licensees.
It is suggested that the Council should consider whether to suspend the licence or not depending on the seriousness of the convictions. I agree that sometimes it is difficult to make a clear-cut decision on which a conviction is serious. But it may be a good gesture to give the benefit of doubt to the licensee.
When the Council issues liquor licences to the bars or clubs, we must take steps to deter those who take advantage of using the name of bars, clubs, night clubs, and restaurants as places for prostitution or soliciting for prostitutes.
Mr Chairman, with these comments, I support the motion.
(Mr Edmund W. H. Chow left and Mr Hilton Cheong-leen arrived during Mr Shum Choi-sang's address.)
MRS GRACE HO (in English): Mr Chairman, my colleagues who have spoken earlier have commented on many aspects of the work of the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee. I therefore propose to be brief and confine myself to major issues which we had tackled during the past year, and problems which we face in the years ahead.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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Last May, the Select Committee decided that in future, new applications for billiard saloons, public table tennis saloons, skating rinks, and bowling alleys would be restricted to commercial buildings only. This was in response to public outcry against billiard saloons that such establishments generally attract undesirable elements and affect the security of the residents if they are permitted to operate within residential or residential/commercial buildings. At the same time, to be fair, we considered that existing establishments should be allowed to continue on their premises until we had sufficient information to formulate a new policy.
In our investigations, we were most concerned to learn that although the Police were charged with inspections of such establishments to ensure that they abide by the regulations, in fact, visits were left very much to the discretion of the local district Police officers and often perfunctory visits were made just prior to renewal of licenses. Also, there was a lack of communication between the Police and the Urban Services Department, and serious breaches were not brought to the attention of the executive arm of the Council, so that action can be taken against the licensee. This was a most unsatisfactory state of affairs. Since then, we had asked for more frequent Police visits and greater co-operation between the two branches of Government as well as of the City District Officers so that there can be strict enforcement of license conditions.
Another aspect came to light. The Commissioner for Television and Entertainment Licensing responsible for issuing licenses for automatic pinball machines did so without reference to the Council nor did he consider public opinion in permitting these machines to be installed automatically in billiard saloons. Consequently, there is no common policy and taken to its extremity, even if the license of a billiard saloon is revoked for any breach of conditions, the licensee can still continue his automatic pinball business. This is obviously not in the public interest.
Lately, there was evidence that billiard saloons are opening up in commercial/residential or residential buildings under the guise of fraternal or district associations which are not under any control. A review of Government's overall policy is long overdue to ascertain whether the general public is in fact satisfied with the present state of affairs.
During the past summer, there were a number of complaints against on-street refuse collection points. The problem was compounded by a breakdown in the Kennedy Town incinerator and delay in repairs to refuse collection vehicles on Hong Kong Island due to a shortage of staff on night work. Steps are being taken to improve the conditions at these refuse collection points. There is little possibility of removing them altogether, and we can only try to reduce the nuisance, but I must warn that even this cannot be carried out overnight as there are over 300 of them in the urban areas.
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