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# HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
## ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Ladies and Gentlemen. The meeting is called to order.
## MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 1982 were confirmed.
## STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):-Last month, the Urban Council adopted its Budget for 1983-84 for an amount of $1,585 million. This Budget foresees an establishment of 18,313 persons, which is only 558 persons more than the 1982-83 period of 17,755 persons. In other words, as much as possible, the Urban Council is limiting its increase to even less than 5% for next year in terms of additional personnel.
The total amount of Personal Emoluments for 1983-84 period will be $910 million which is 57.4% of the total Budget. I would have preferred that this percentage for Personal Emoluments and Allowances to have been lower. However, as I mentioned when I introduced the Budget last month, Government will be increasing the on-cost charge on Council's Personal Emoluments from 29% to 40% as at 1 April 1983. This represents an additional $92 million to be paid out by the Council for the 1983–84 period.
The Urban Council is very cost-conscious and its Administration Select Committee meets monthly to monitor efficiency, productivity and to seek out areas where wastage can be eliminated. Also, the Urban Services Department has an Establishment Sub-Committee to ensure that manpower deployment is productively utilized. Again, the Department's Management Audit Unit in the six months ending 30 September 1982 was able to pin-point areas in cleansing and hygiene operations, which would bring about potential savings of $6.8 million annually.
We are furthermore taking a long, hard look at where we can efficiently effect savings in the cultural and other fields. However, I would not like to see any ill-advised cut-back on the Council's sports promotion vote for next year, which has been increased from $6 million this year to $9 million next year. The Council will continue with its joint sports programmes with national sports associations and District Boards. This is in line with the Council's policy to promote sports activities among all sections of the community, and also to seek further improvement in competitive sport. In fact, if resources permit, I would like to see the Urban Council and Government join forces to promote a sustained Physical Fitness Campaign for all residents, whether young or old.
Increases in fees and charges for next year will have to be kept as low as possible and only where it is necessary to do so. The Council's policy is that revision from time to time of fees and charges is not to obtain a surplus, but to cover the cost of the services provided. It is, of course, not always possible to do so because of the heavy element of subsidization involved in many services and any drastic increase in the level of fees and charges would be inadvisable.
## Urban Council's 100th Anniversary
Next year, the Urban Council will celebrate its 1883-1983 Centenary. An ad hoc Centenary Committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Kim CHAM has been set up under the Standing Committee of the Whole Council and further details concerning the Centenary Celebrations will be announced at a later date.
The Council has come a long way since it was set up as a Sanitary Board against fierce opposition by certain sections of the community 100 years ago. With its long history and accumulated experience and technical expertise, I am confident that the Urban Council will continue to make a major contribution to improve the environment and living standards for Hong Kong people for many years to come.
As an indication of what the Urban Council is doing within its statutory responsibilities, I append a tentative list of significant events on which the Urban Council is planning to sponsor in 1983.
## Urban Council Visit to Singapore
The Urban Council delegation to Singapore of seven members returned a few days ago after studying various aspects concerning hawkers, environmental and housing improvement, and cultural and recreational facilities and services. Among other Singapore officials, the delegation met the Minister of Culture and the Chairman of the Singapore Sports Council. I believe our visit will lead to closer co-operation in future between Hong Kong and Singapore in matters concerning the Council's responsibilities.
The delegation was in particular impressed with the general courtesy of people in Singapore. I personally feel, together with other members of the delegation, that Hong Kong could do well to embark on a territory-wide courtesy campaign which should be of benefit to Hong Kong residents as well as visitors to Hong Kong. But this would require the active support not only of the Urban Council and the Hong Kong Tourist Association, but of all Government departments as well as organizations in the private sector.
Meantime, a full report of the visit is under preparation for submission to the Standing Committee of the Whole Council.
## Holiday Greetings
As we approach the end of 1982, I would like to take this opportunity to extend Christmas and New Year greetings to Members of the Council, all staff of the
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