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carrying out daily inspection of on-street cooked food stalls to detect illegal subletting and non-operation of licensees since the inception of the scheme in June this year. Non-operating licensees are urged either to resume personal operation or to voluntarily surrender their licences in exchange for the ex-gratia payment. Through the combined efforts of enforcement pressure and personal persuasion, the Council has clearly achieved the desired goal in reducing its resiting commitments without resorting to legal action on prosecution. It is not easy to provide an accurate breakdown on the staff cost required to strengthen the inspection function as this is carried out by the G.D.T. among other day-to-day enforcement duties. However, I am sure that the exercise has been worthwhile one, as evident from the long-term financial saving consequent upon a substantial reduction in Council's resiting commitments.
(Mr. Augustine CHUNG arrived at this point 4.10 p.m.)
MR. YOUNG (in Cantonese):---Mr. Chairman, since the implementation of the ex-gratia payment scheme, more than 200 cooked food stalls have surrendered their licences for the ex-gratia payment, and this is quite close to the estimate provided by the department earlier on. So, can we be assured that we will continue with our efforts to encourage more cooked food stall operators to surrender their licences because this will be to the benefit of the members of the public?
MR. SHUM (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, the Council is doing its best towards this objective, and we are trying to persuade people who do not operate the stalls themselves to surrender their licences.
3.
MR. LAM CHAK-PIU asked the following question (in Cantonese):--On improvement to the environment of squatter areas... So far as I know, in many a squatter area such as Lam Tin and Yau Tong, the surface channels and drainage ditches are often choked up with accumulated rubbish so that there is an overflow of smelly, filthy water. The health of the residents is affected as the situation is perennially left unattended. What does the Urban Council propose to do to improve such conditions? And when?
DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG, Chairman of the ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):-This question concerns the accumulation of refuse in surface channels and ditches in squatter areas. It seeks information on what the Council proposes to do to improve the situation, and when.
The Council provides regular daily cleansing services to squatter areas, including the removal of refuse from ditches and channels. There are altogether 326 cleansing workmen employed by the Council to cleanse the squatter areas at an annually recurrent cost of $12 million. To improve cleansing services in squatter areas, the Council has recently revised the manning ratio of cleansing workmen assigned to squatter area cleansing from 800 residents per workman to 570 per workman for all hillside squatter settlements.
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Most of the water channels and ditches running through squatter areas are crudely formed. They are often inaccessible, making cleansing work particularly difficult. As a long-term measure, the Council is participating in the Government's Squatter Area Improvement Scheme. This scheme aims, on a phased basis, to improve living conditions by providing among other things, flush toilets, street lights and better cleansing services. These latter services include new refuse collection points and proper surface and foul drains. Last year, the Council funded $1 million worth of new facilities in three pilot areas, two being in Kwun Tong and one in North Point. The Council has also agreed, starting from this year, to contribute some $21.5 million over a period of five years for the provision of both cleansing and recreational facilities to improve living conditions for 100 000 squatters.
Surface channels and ditches do not generate refuse themselves. The unfortunate thing is that many people living in squatter areas choose to litter their own environs, instead of disposing of refuse properly into the refuse drums provided by the Council.
Individual members of the public can help the Council keep particular areas tidy by reporting accumulations of refuse in surface channels and ditches in squatter areas by dialing the litter hotline 5-95555. Prompt attention will always be given to such reports.
4.
DR. PHILIP C. K. KWOK asked the following question (in Cantonese):- How has the Urban Services Department been coping with the cleaning-up after typhoons this year?
DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese): This question concerns the clean-up after typhoons this year.
The Urban Services Department was able to cope with the clean-up after typhoons fairly well. Typhoon Ellen gave particular problems leaving a massive amount of tree debris in its wake. Over 7 700 lorry loads of fallen trees and debris were removed in the days following the passage of the storm.
Immediately after the lowering of the No. 10 signal, staff started the clean-up operation. Roads were cleared of obstruction soon after the gales subsided, and the urban areas were restored to a reasonable state a few days later. The removal of heavy, bulky trees created a considerable workload on the department's transport resources and their clearance was further aggravated by a number of residents who chose to use the occasion as an excuse to dump volumes of household junk near their homes to await the arrival of the Department's collection vehicles. Nevertheless, the overall clean-up operations were quite successful and I am pleased to say won recognition from various quarters.
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