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difference between sleeping or laying down on benches or obstructing other people from using facilities in the park, because if you go to the park you will see families go there to sleep in the sun and some members of the family would lie down? So I would like to know how our park staff could distinguish between people who lie down and people who actually sleep?
MR. YOUNG (in Cantonese):-According to the By-laws and this is the English version, it states that 'No person shall, in any pleasure ground put his feet on any seat'. Therefore you cannot put your feet on the seat and this could be taken as the guideline. It also states that 'No person shall, in any pleasure ground lie upon any seat or lie down in any building therein'. I am not a lawyer but if you do not lie on the bench, then you would not be offending the law because you do see people resting horizontally on the grass turf. I think our staff would be duly instructed by the department and it would be the Amenities Officers and Assistant Amenities Officers who would have the power of prosecution. For workers that would at least be Worker I and they would certainly abide by the departmental instructions. As to whether the person concerned is actually guilty of an offence, that would really be up to the courts to decide.
MR. TONG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I understand that Miss YEUNG'S question concerns street sleepers rather than those who sleep in a park in daytime. I would like to ask this point that it said only 9 persons were prosecuted. In Sham Shui Po alone, I gather that the street sleepers only sleep in the park in the nighttime and not in the daytime. Our staff are only on duty in the daytime, but at night would we have staff on duty to check and to prosecute people who sleep in the park, should we not deal with this problem properly? When our senior staff were around in the daytime, you would seldom find any street sleepers, therefore, I do not think the department is facing this problem very squarely and fairly and I hope that the committee could really tackle the problem of street sleepers sleeping in parks at night, could we take action at night as well?
MR. YOUNG (in Cantonese):-Mr. TONG's suggestion could certainly be taken into consideration, but it is mainly in Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok where there are street sleepers and if the parks are not closed that night, I am sure the department would consider taking effective measures to deal with the problem, but I do not know whether it is worthwhile to deploy staff round the clock to be on duty at such parks and whether that is really viable?
MR. SULKE (in English):—Mr. Chairman, of course, it may be very easy to be humorous about the subject, but surely these people deserve sympathy and not prosecution and shouldn't the committee really take the Government to task for not looking after these people properly?
MR. YOUNG (in English):---Mr. Chairman, it is only when people are asked or totally refuse to behave in a proper way that prosecution is a step to take. In normal circumstances if we feel that it is a type of person that needs the help and sympathy that Mr. SULKE refers to, then they are referred to the Social Welfare Department for help which in fact, is being done.
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5. MISS CECILIA L. Y. YEUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):-- During the summer season from June to September, there are many life-guards on duty on the beaches managed by the Urban Services Department. Would the Council consider assigning some of the jobs to voluntary groups, thus saving some expenses?
MR. HOWARD H. W. YOUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):―This question asks whether the Council would consider assigning some of the life-saving services on beaches, managed by the Urban Services Department, to voluntary groups during the summer season from June to September.
At present there are twelve gazetted beaches and one non-gazetted beach managed by the Department in the urban area. Life-saving services at these facilities are provided in the following manner, there are:-
(a) 120 permanently employed lifeguards on the departmental establishment;
(b) 60 temporarily employed lifeguards employed only for the swimming season;
(c) 50 honorary lifeguards provided on Saturday afternoons, Sundays and public holidays by the Hong Kong Lifeguard Club; and
(d) 30 lifeguards provided on Sundays and public holidays by the Auxiliary Medical Services.
I think it is clear from these figures that the Council is already assigning much of this seasonal work to Volunteers.
I am grateful to Miss YEUNG for raising this question because it not only highlights the fact that the employment of voluntary lifeguards does indeed result in a financial saving and thus lessens the burden on the urban ratepayer, but it gives me the opportunity to publicize the excellent work performed for the Council by the Hong Kong Lifeguard Club, the Auxiliary Medical Service and many other similar voluntary organizations and swimming clubs.
Furthermore by opening up this seasonal work to voluntary helpers it offers an excellent opportunity for the youth of Hong Kong to participate in a most meaningful way to the service of the community as a whole.
6. MR. FAN KAM-PING asked the following question (in Cantonese): So far as I know, the Sham Shui Po District Office agreed some months ago to the construction of the Mei Foo market on a piece of government land (originally earmarked for a community hall) in Mei Lai Road, Mei Foo Sun Chuen, to meet the demand of over 50 000 Mei Foo residents expressed since 1971, and also for the shopping convenience of the thousands of people living in the nearby Ching Lai
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