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5. THE HONOURABLE SELINA CHOW asked the following question (in Cantonese):- May the Council be informed of the progress of repairs to the roof of the Hong Kong Coliseum, when they are expected to be completed, and whether they are likely to affect the usage of this major venue?
MR. KENNETH T. C. LO, CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):- This question concerns repairs to the roof of the Hong Kong Coliseum, the waterproof membrane of which was damaged by typhoon 'Ellen'.
According to the Director of Building Development, re-instatement of the permanent waterproofing of the roof is being actively pursued. Construction work is expected to commence in mid-November 1983 and will take about two months to complete. The Director of Building Development does not expect the interior of the Coliseum to be affected during the construction period.
To-date, apart from the need to re-schedule one performance and some inconvenience during two other performances, normal usage of the Coliseum has not been affected.
MRS. CHOW (in Cantonese):- I would like to ask whether the Coliseum is absolutely structurally safe.
MR. LO (in English):— Mr. Chairman, I do not have any information that the structure is, in any way, dangerous.
MR. FREDERICK FUNG (in Cantonese):- Mr. Chairman, the Coliseum is a new structure. How can it be damaged by just one typhoon? How much does it cost the Council to pay for the repair?
MR. LO (in English):— Mr. Chairman, I would not like to hazard an opinion as to why it is necessary to do the repairs and why it was damaged. The construction of the coliseum, of course, is carried out by the Building Development Department and paid for by the Government and not the Council. As for the cost to the Council, the repairs would be paid for by the Government and not the Council.
6. MR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG asked the following question (in Cantonese):-- What progress has been made in the construction of the Lockhart Road U.C. Complex? What facilities will be provided in this particular complex and when will it be completed?
MR. LAWRENCE H. L. FUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE CAPITAL WORKS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):- This question concerns the Lockhart Road U.C. Complex and is in two parts. The first part asks what progress has been made in its construction. The second part asks what facilities will be provided in the Complex.
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In answer to the first part of the question, the piling work for the foundation of the Lockhart Road U.C. Complex, which began in December 1982 was completed in July this year. I am informed that the sheet piling for the sub-structure and basement, will commence this month and be completed by July 1984. Construction of the super-structure will then start in September 1984 and the whole project is expected to be completed by May 1986.
As regards the facilities to be provided, the complex will have a market, a cooked food centre, a library, an indoor games hall and games rooms, and general office accommodation.
MR. WONG (in English):— Mr. Chairman, there appeared to be plans to house some of the Urban Council computer facilities in this building. If so, what would they be? Would the building be delayed?
MR. LAWRENCE FUNG (in English):— Mr. Chairman, there should not be any substantial delay by the fact that the computers of Urban Council will be housed in the complex.
MOTIONS
1. THE CHAIRMAN, URBAN COUNCIL, moved the following motion:
"THAT the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for 1984-85 and the list of works which the Council proposes to undertake during the next financial year be approved for transmission to the Governor in accordance with Section 39 of the Urban Council Ordinance."
He said (in English):--- I move the adoption of today's Motion on the Urban Council's budget, which is otherwise known as the 'Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure', with accompanying list of capital works for the 1984-85 financial year which will commence on 1 April 1984.
1983-84 financial year
The 1983-84 budget had estimated a deficit of $266 million. In September 1983, which is at the end of the first half of the financial year, it was anticipated that the revised budget deficit would be reduced to $133 million due to underspendings in recurrent, special and capital expenditure, and additional revenue from fee revisions. It is, however, quite likely that the actual deficit by the end of the current financial year as at 31 March 1984, could be about $110 million. These figures have been prepared as realistically as possible, bearing in mind that we are working on a budget to the order of over $1,500 million.
It is inevitable that for the current financial year, the Council will have to dip into its reserve funds to the tune of about $110 million. This should leave the Council with an estimated reserve fund of about $267 million as at 31 March 1984.