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the Council. Drafting approval for new legislation has since been given by the Government and detailed drafting instructions have been forwarded to the Secretary for the Environment for consideration. It is hoped that the new legislation will come into force in about 10-12 months.
MRS. Ho (in English):-Mr. Chairman, may I ask the Select Committee to ensure that it keeps a watching brief on this and that there is no delay in the implementation of the legislation?
DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):--Mr. Chairman, I am sure that the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee would see to it, that it would be in operation as soon as possible. We have been pressing the Government for a relaxation even though the Public Works Department has objected to our proposals; now that the authorities seemed to have changed their minds, we hoped that it will be in operation very soon to the benefit of both the Council and the public at large.
4. MR. STEPHEN M. L. Lau asked the following question (in Cantonese):— What are the plans for recreational activities for school children in their summer holidays this year?
THE HONOURABLE F. K. HU, VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-Each year, from June to September, a series of sports activities are organized by the Council for young people and children. Both passive and active recreational activities are provided, including aquatic activities, team games and individual games. It is expected that this year these events will attract some 100,000 participants apart from spectators.
As regards team games, there will be 4 mini-soccer tournaments, 1 volleyball tournament for children and 1 district basketball league for youth. As regards individual games, there will be 2 badminton competitions, 2 fencing competitions, 1 table-tennis competition, 1 archery competition, 1 cycling competition, 1 trampolining tournament and 1 chess championship. Besides, there will be 1 bowling competition and 2 swimming galas for the disabled.
There will also be various training courses, covering badminton, soccer, softball, judo, boxing, fencing, athletics, swimming, water-polo and other water sports.
In addition to these sports activities, a large-scale Summer Fun Festival is presented by the Council each year. This year the Fun Festival will take place from 19 July to 30 August. This Festival, which is aimed at young people and will cater for over 80,000 persons, will comprise sixty-six events including launch picnics, swimming parties, family harbour cruises, a children's film week, astronomy camps, dance and drama camps, carnivals, summer night concerts, children's parties, youth dances and concerts. All the events except for the camp activities and youth dances are free of charge.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. LAU (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, in the urban area, there are hundreds of thousands of young people and as Mr. HU mentioned something like 80,000 of them would be able to enjoy these programmes. I wonder if we could encourage district organizations to promote these activities. For those areas and districts where we have no indoor stadia what special arrangements do we have?
MR. HU (in English):--The Council is always open-minded in organizing activities with any organization from any district if they have a good proposal. I am sure the Council will consider most favourably organized activities. I mentioned the number of participants as 80,000. As a matter of fact, there will be lots of spectators watching these events and the estimated number would be 800,000. By the way, the 80,000 participants is for last year and this year is close to 100,000 participants. As regards the activities, of course indoor games halls have been used particularly to the maximum, so we have to organize a lot of activities in outdoor venues including the water sports.
DR. CHAM (in English):—Mr. Chairman, I notice that there will be a Children's Film Week in the Festival. Since in these days, there are fewer and fewer films suitable for children, I wonder if it is possible in the future, we could show children's films more frequently over the weekends throughout the summer for instance or even more frequently every day?
MR. HU (in English):-Mr. Chairman, the Council always organizes regularly film shows and Dr. Kim CHAM's view will certainly be borne in mind.
5. MR. LAWRENCE H. L. FUNG asked the following question (in English):— What would be the financial implications for the Urban Council of improving cleansing urban squatter areas?
DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):-This question concerns the financial implications for the Urban Council of improving the cleansing of urban squatter areas.
Last year a comprehensive survey of all urban squatter areas was carried out by the City Services Department. Altogether there are 44 squatter areas on Hong Kong Island and 61 in Kowloon. In many of the larger concentrations, a basic cleansing service consisting of beat sweeping, dry toilets, and refuse bin points is already provided. Bearing in mind that the populations of many of these squatter areas had increased in the past year or two, the purpose of the survey was to ascertain the extent to which this service was meeting basic demand and whether it needed to be improved. There are, however, a number of obstacles in the way of providing improved facilities. The areas are often on hilly slopes which make cleansing more difficult and, in particular, the collection of refuse, junk, and, in some cases, nightsoil. Furthermore, the areas are usually very crowded and every available piece of land is taken up for living purposes.
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