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MR. FUNG (in Cantonese):-I do not have detailed figures for this part of the question, therefore I cannot give Mr. LAU an answer immediately on the ratio of local organizations using the theatre. However, the figures will be provided to him after the meeting. Because of the locality of the place and the publicity involved, our work at present concentrates on the area around Kowloon City; apart from Kowloon City itself, there are territory-wide activities like the Asian Arts Festival or the International Film Festival, where the theatre would be used as a venue, and I will give the figures to Mr. LAU later on.
MRS. LI (in Cantonese):—I would like to ask Mr. FUNG, in his answer he said that, in 1983-84 there was a total of 180,000 people making use of the venue, could he inform us whether this is a satisfactory figure and if yes, what is the reason for being satisfied?
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):-Do you want Mr. FUNG's personal opinion? Would you seek his opinion on behalf of the Select Committee?
MR. FREDERICK FUNG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, it all depends on how you look at this particular figure. If you look at it as a venue which is very frequently used and popular, then 180,000 is not too high a figure. If you look at the territory-wide venue, we see that if the venue is put to optimum use, its figures should be higher than 180,000. However, as I have already said, a large part of the Ko Shan Theatre, that is, around 2,000 seats are in the upper level open-air section and it means that, in July, August, and September, it is too hot and in the winter, January and February, it is too cold. So we cannot make use of that particular section. What we can really use is one-third of the seating capacity, that is the area which is covered. So the 180,000 people now making use of the venue could be due to the particular design of our venue. We are also considering what we can do to the open-air section to see whether we can provide wind-shades or sun-shades, but this matter is being pursued. But we hope that by the time the suggestion is forthcoming, we will consider it in the Select Committee and refer the whole matter to the Standing Committee.
MR. SAMUEL WONG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, Mr. FUNG in his reply said that the covered section of the theatre is served by a mechanical ventilation system; I think that is incorrect; there is no ventilation system or air-conditioning system rather. Does it mean that we will consider air-conditioning in future improvement?
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):-Can you give an explanation, Mr. FUNG?
MR. FREDERICK FUNG (in Cantonese):-According to the information that I have, if there is no air-conditioning system or ventilation system, then I think the Urban Council is violating the regulations. I know that there must be a ventilation system because the Urban Council stipulates that in a certain area there must be a certain amount of ventilation, or I believe we must have a ventilation system.
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):-Mr. WONG, do you want to have a clarification?
MR. SAMUEL WONG (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, when you talk about the Chinese term '', we mean air-conditioning and we do not mean ventilation; I think the wrong words have been used.
MR. FREDERICK FUNG (in Cantonese):—Yes, probably we have used the wrong words, but what I meant is ventilation system; there is a ventilation system provided.
6. DR. RONALD D. B. LEUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):— What is the Council's policy on the temporary development of sites allocated to it pending permanent development, and in particular, what temporary use is proposed for the site earmarked for the Tai Kok Tsui Market?
MR. AUGUSTINE S. K. CHUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE CAPITAL WORKS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):----The question refers to two issues:-
(a) Council's policy on the temporary development of sites allocated to it pending permanent development; and
(b) the temporary use, if any, proposed for the site earmarked for the Tai Kok Tsui Market.
Temporary development of any site is usually costly, and even the simplest form of development can run to $300-500 per square metre. The Council has always taken the line that unless only very nominal works are involved, any sites with less than a 5-year tenure or which have obvious technical constraints, such as geotechnical problems, should not be developed, bearing in mind that a 5-year tenure would generally mean a 4-year usage, allowing one year for planning and development of the site.
As far as the site earmarked for the Tai Kok Tsui U.C. Complex is concerned, it is divided into two parts:-
(a) the portion of the site fronting Fuk Tsun Street, which was burned down and which has since been developed into a temporary sitting-out area;
(b) the remaining part of the site, which is at present occupied by squatter factories. This part of the site is unlikely to be cleared for development before 1987, when construction work for the Tai Kok Tsui U.C. Complex is expected to commence.
DR. LEUNG (in Cantonese):-I want to ask a supplementary question about the Tai Kok Tsui Market Complex, because there are many hawkers in that area and we will have to wait for a long time before full development. May I ask the Capital
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