Page 29 of 142
24
# HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
## ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):--Ladies and Gentlemen. The meeting is called to order. I would like to congratulate Dr. Denny HUANG who is absent today, Mr Lawrence FUNG and Miss Maria TAM on their appointment as Justices of the Peace with effect from 10 May 1982.
## MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on 11 May 1982 were confirmed.
## STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):—
### Urban Council Services in Squatter Areas
Over a quarter-million people live in squatter huts in the urban areas and I would like to put on record what the Council has done for this sizeable population, what the constraints are and how the Council plans to develop its services in the squatter areas.
The Council provides basic cleansing services in squatter areas and employs over 200 workers for this purpose at a cost of over $6 million a year. As in other urban areas, beat sweepers are employed but because of the difficult terrain in most squatter areas, the density of the huts and population, and additionally the general lack of civic-mindedness on the part of squatters who tend to litter indiscriminately, the workers are not able to maintain the standards of general cleanliness found in the developed urban areas.
Refuse bin sites are provided wherever space is available for this purpose and refuse is removed by U.S.D. workers from these sites at least twice a day. In many cases this collection service entails carrying baskets of heavy refuse down steep slopes to sites which are accessible to refuse collection vehicles.
The Urban Council also provides temporary toilets wherever these can be safely located. Because of the lack of proper sewage systems it is not possible to install flush toilets. Consequently the toilets have to be emptied manually and the contents carried to points where they can be emptied into Council conservancy vehicles. This is a difficult task for the staff to carry out and Council is grateful to those workers who perform this duty so conscientiously.
The Urban Council is anxious to expand its services in the squatter areas. In the past it has not been able to do so because of the lack of suitable sites on which to locate toilets and refuse bins and also the lack of proper access facilities which would allow men and machines to carry out the necessary cleansing services.
However, through the Housing Department, Government has commissioned engineering consultants to undertake pilot studies in connection with an overall squatter area improvement scheme. The Council is hopeful that this scheme will produce suitable sites and improved access to certain squatter areas so that it can proceed to develop and improve its services to the people living there.
Plans are in hand to increase the manpower resources available for work in the squatter areas and steps have also been taken to replace the old style wooden toilet structures with fibre-glass toilets which are easier to clean, are more hygienic, and aesthetically are an infinite improvement. So far 109 double-compartment fibre-glass units have been installed in various squatter sites throughout the urban areas and it is planned to replace all wooden units with the fibre-glass versions notwithstanding the higher cost of $5,000 per unit. The response from the public to this improvement programme has been favourable. Providing flush toilets in squatter areas is still the long-term objective of the Council and it is hoped that steps can soon be made in this direction with the formation of the Housing Department's new Squatter Area Improvement Division. I am glad to note that work has already commenced in some squatter areas and fire breaks have been created.
The Council hopes that this squatter area improvement scheme will result in the provision of proper access facilities to those areas where they are required, also land for recreational development by Council, proper sewage systems, electricity and adequate water supplies. These are all fundamental pre-requisites to Council being able to improve its services and facilities for squatter area residents who desperately need flush latrines, bath houses, refuse bin sites, sitting-out areas and more recreation and cultural services.
During the past few weeks special efforts have been made by Council through the Clean Hong Kong Campaign to cleaning up squatter areas, with special attention being paid to clearing nullahs and hillsides where there are very large accumulations of refuse and junk. So far, over 1,000 tonnes of refuse and 1,800 lorry loads of junk have been removed from urban squatter areas during the Campaign. But it is clear that the present system of ad hoc clearance programmes is not adequate to cope with the gargantuan task of improving the eyesore effect that squatter areas have within the urban areas. This will demand close co-operation on the part of Government, the Urban Council and the squatter residents themselves in ensuring that the Clean Hong Kong Campaign will have a long-term effect.
The Urban Council expresses its deep concern at the recent tragic events which have been caused in squatter areas by the torrential rain and extends its sympathy to all those families, some of whose members have been lost or injured. I wish to give the assurance that the Council will do everything possible to replace as soon as possible all Council facilities which have been destroyed or damaged by the rain.
Page 30 of 142