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situation at the grass root level which helps the Council to make fine tuning and adjustment in its policies. Within the guidelines of main policies, it is worthwhile for us to consider getting District Boards more involved, other than giving advice and comments, in the actual implementation of policies at the district level which may help to achieve quicker and more effective results. This proposal is very much in line with what Mr. Brook BERNACCHI said earlier in this Council about giving executive power to the District Boards. However, I wish to comment that Mr. BERNACCHI's remarks about UMELCO Members paying more attention to appointment by Governor in the back of their mind is a totally biased and unfair opinion. May I suggest that Mr. BERNACCHI should read the UMELCO Annual Report to have a better and clearer idea about what UMELCO Members have done for the benefit of the general public. I'll be happy to send a copy to Mr. BERNACCHI for his study.
Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR. SHUM CHOI-SANG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, the problem uppermost in the minds of the people of Hong Kong is what will happen after 1997. There is of course still 13 years to go before 1997. Even if there are changes when the time comes, it is estimated that 90% of the population who are unable or unwilling to emigrate to other countries will remain in Hong Kong.
In the next 13 years, the people of Hong Kong will have to work for their living as usual, even though they may not be able to raise their standard of living as fast as before. If we could encourage them to work hard, our trade and industries will continue to go forward.
Unless there are sudden political and economic pressures which cause people to lose their confidence, or when they are driven to despair, I believe Hong Kong's economy will not contract, but will continue to grow slowly.
Another question then arises about which the people are also very anxious: will Hong Kong continue to enjoy prosperity and stability if its economy grows. I hope both China and Britain, in their negotiations, will not forget the people of Hong Kong, nor ignore the prosperity they have painstakingly built up.
The Urban Council and the District Boards will no doubt exert certain influence on the future political situation in Hong Kong. If Hong Kong's present system is really not to be changed drastically, then these institutions will play some important part in the administration of Hong Kong.
Irrespective of what Hong Kong will become after 13 years, the Urban Council and other similar institutions must continue to deal with the many daily affairs in our city.
Let me now come back to the realities of the day. In the Council, I am very concerned about the problems of hawkers and outdoor entertainment, and would therefore like to comment on these two topics.
Hawkers
With regard to hawkers, the problem is also discussed by the Environmental Improvement Committees of the various District Boards, and the residents gradually understand that hawkers do cause serious traffic obstruction and environmental health hazards.
The Council is trying hard to find a solution to the problem so that the hawkers may operate their business in an orderly fashion.
The Council considers that an ideal solution would be to move all on-street hawkers into markets, but in order to resite the existing 27,000 licensed and 17,500 unlicensed hawkers, we would need to build 90 new large markets to accommodate them. In today's situation, I am afraid it could not be done even in 10 years.
The Council should therefore pursue the following objectives in its short-term policy:
(a) to move all on-street hawkers as soon as possible to suitable locations so as to alleviate the undesirable effects on public health, traffic as well as the shops nearby.
(b) to check the ever increase in the number of unlicensed hawkers.
(c) to consider the issue of licences, if circumstances permit, to those hawkers who have operated their business for more than 10 years.
Last year, over 11,000 itinerant hawker licences were issued, but most of these hawkers operate their business in a fixed place all the time and some congregate in busy roads, thus causing traffic obstruction. Some suitable places must quickly be found to have them resited as fixed-pitch hawkers.
Control of both licensed and unlicensed on-street hawkers is the responsibility of the General Duties Team which must see that the hawkers will not cause serious traffic, fire and health hazards, nor mar the amenities. The Team is co-operating closely with the police, particularly now that the latter is still responsible for keeping the main roads free of obstruction. Each year, many hawkers are arrested by the police for traffic obstruction offences.
Since the introduction of the 'Hawker Re-ordering Scheme' in 1980, the Council has issued over 6,000 fixed-pitch hawker licences, thus gradually reducing the number of itinerant and unlicensed hawkers.
The Scheme provides for the marking out of pitch spaces on the streets which also requires the consent of a number of other government departments, as these on-street pitches may affect traffic, fire-fighting and district development. The hawkers do welcome the Scheme, though they are reluctant to move away from the busy areas.
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