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Market, for example. We feel that it was put in the wrong place at the beginning because the people prefer to go to the bigger market in Aberdeen and therefore that market is not a very suitable market. We do know there are such markets and we are trying to make other use of the unsatisfactory stalls. I can assure that you will read all of this in our report.
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MR. STEPHEN LAU (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, about the 717 vacant stalls, are they permanently vacant or are they scattered all over? In the Hollywood Market and Ngau Tau Kok Market, both markets are not very viable. However we took into account other factors and we lower the rent and we could meet with the demand of the stallholders. Can we consider asking outsiders to assess the rents of these 717 stalls for us to bring the rent down to a more realistic level, so that stallholders may become interested to rent these stalls?
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MRS. ELLIOTT TU (in English):—Mr. Chairman, the majority of the 717 vacant stalls are found in a small group of what we would call unviable markets. Just to give you an example, Wong Tai Sin Market has been a failure right from the beginning because it is on too many floors and is absolutely flooded outside with hawkers in the Wong Tai Sin Estate. The To Kwa Wan Market was set up to try to accommodate all the hawkers in the area with the result that the market was too big, and the stalls were too small and with too many floors. Quite a lot of those 717 vacant stalls are in these two markets. These are the problem markets and that is the background of the case. It is only a very limited number and reducing the rent would not make any difference because the hawkers have already left the markets, they cannot operate inside, they have already gone outside and if you reduce the rent they would still use the stalls for storage and go outside to operate as they cannot sell anything there.
6. MR. JOSEPH Y. S. CHAN asked the following question (in Cantonese):—Two permanent off-street refuse collection points are proposed to be built at Aberdeen Reservoir Road and Ap Lei Chau Main Street. Could you report the construction progress of these two refuse collection points?
In respect of the vast number of objections from many community bodies and residents in Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau and to minimise inevitable environmental hygiene and traffic congestion problem caused by the RCPs. Would you revise to find a more suitable sites to replace them which have already been chosen for building of RCPs?
DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese): This question requests information on progress on construction of the Refuse Collection Points at Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau, and asks if alternative sites for these Points can be found.
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Construction of the proposed refuse collection points at Aberdeen Reservoir Road and Ap Lei Chau Main Street was approved by the Council in May 1985 and January 1985 respectively.
Detailed design work on the proposed refuse collection point at Aberdeen Reservoir Road has been held up in view of objections to the location of the project site and the request from the Southern District Board to consider alternative sites. The feasibility of using the alternative sites suggested by the District Board is being examined by departments concerned. Since the site at Aberdeen Reservoir Road was chosen after long deliberation, it is difficult to identify another site in the vicinity where all the requirements can be met.
Design work on the proposed refuse collection point at Ap Lei Chau Main Street is proceeding despite some disquiet expressed by the local residents. After a thorough investigation, the District Board and departments concerned are satisfied that there is no suitable alternative site. The existing temporary refuse collection point at the western end of Ap Lei Chau Main Street will have to be removed in 1986 to make way for the Ap Lei Chau Reclamation and associated works. It is therefore essential for the proposed new refuse collection point to be completed in time to maintain the refuse collection service in the area. Construction of the new refuse collection point is now expected to commence in December this year for completion in late 1986. An earnest attempt is being made by the District Board and the department to explain the case to those who object to the proposed refuse collection point.
The Council will be kept informed of the progress of the two refuse collection point projects.
MR. JOSEPH CHAN (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, the plan about the refuse collection point (RCP) in the Ap Lei Chau Main Street has been discussed again by the Southern District Board recently. The District Board suggested that this RCP be shelved for the time being, the Lands Department has informed the District Board that the land is available only for 5 years. More than a year has lapsed since the land was first allocated and if there is a short discussion then another year might have lapsed. At the time this RCP has been completed only 3 years might be left, if we have only 3 years left, then is it worthwhile to spend over a million dollars there to build the permanent RCP? Secondly, the temporary RCP that is mentioned here was claimed by some Government departments that it might remain there even after 1986. There will be the Ap Lei Chau reclamation and more land is available after the reclamation, and bearing in mind that the Council will be building a new market complex in Ap Lei Chau soon. We must also take into consideration that there is a religious institution which is renting out part of the land, on which we propose to build the RCP, to a bank and the bank said that it does not want to continue its lease if it is going to be right next to a RCP. The religious institution said that if loss incurred because of this it will certainly sue the Urban Council for compensation. Now with the existence of all these factors, would we be considering them altogether, so that we can review the site of this RCP?
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