Page 83 of 201
124
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
put a stop to 39 unlicensed food factories which were suspected of supplying cooked food for sale to unlicensed hawkers. Drastic action was also taken against unlicensed mobile cooked food or drinks hawkers and unlicensed mobile vans selling lunch boxes. And, of course, there was a considerable increase in raids by our GDT teams with Police assistance on hawker black spots.
But the bare statistics do not tell the story. Average arrests during a normal week of cooked food hawkers are 24 per day. In the first week of the outbreak this rose to 48 per day, in the second week it was 35 per day, and then it dropped back to the normal average. However, there was one huge difference: In the worst areas the illegal cooked food hawkers had disappeared.
Because it isn't enough to just arrest hawkers. In those first two weeks there were 70 joint operations with the Police. Now our GDT teams could have made the arrests by themselves without the help of the Police, but the Police being there meant that for the first time the hawkers ran not only when they saw GDT teams but also when they saw the Police.
I have been saying for a long time that the biggest problem we have is the contempt for the law shown by the law-breakers, whether these are hawkers, or those who spit, or those who litter, when they break the law right in front of a Policeman and the Policeman does not do anything to stop them.
I well understand that the Police cannot afford to always help us as they did during these two critical weeks, but it does not do for the Police to stand idly by when the law is being broken, and it is important that the hawker, or the man who spits in the street knows that when this is done in front of a Policeman, the Policeman will take action. In other words, we need to instil in illegal hawkers a respect for the Police and that will make it very much easier for our GDT teams to enforce the law, and recent events have certainly brought that message home.
I also want to mention one fact without any further comment: The maximum fine for unlicensed hawkers is HK$1,000 plus HK$50 per day for a continuing offence, for obstruction by hawking it is HK$5,000 and three months imprisonment, and for selling restricted food it is HK$10,000 plus HK$250 per day for a continuing offence as well as a 6 months prison sentence. The average fine during the cholera outbreak imposed on illegal cooked food hawkers arrested was roughly between HK$150-HK$180, which was about the same as usually imposed when there is no cholera.
The lion's share of the success belongs to the USD, their health inspectors, their GDT teams, but we had three things going for us: Concentration of our own people who were taken away from less urgent jobs, which brought with it a lessening of control over other hawkers; a great amount of well conceived and directed publicity which heightened public awareness and stopped many from patronising the illegal cooked food hawkers; and the help of the Police.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 83 of 201
125
And I have to say here that unless we have this combination we cannot be successful in controlling hawkers, cooked food or otherwise, and that is the principal lesson to be learnt.
So with thanks to the Police, with congratulations to the medical personnel involved who did not lose one single patient, and congratulations to all USD staff involved, I have great pleasure in supporting the motion.
DR. RONALD D. B. LEUNG (in English):- Mr. Chairman, while supporting the motion, may I add a word of caution on the need for further vigilance control measures which have just been related in detail by our fellow Councillor, Mr. Walter SULKE. These measures were initiated by Central Co-ordinating Committee chaired by the Medical and Health Department. The Committee consists of the Urban Services Department, Regional Services Department, Housing Department, Information Services Department. The combined efforts of this committee have rendered prompt control of the recent cholera outbreak. The outbreak was caused by strain, cholera El Tor which characteristically tends to produce milder symptoms and signs and give rise to higher asymptomatic carrier rate than the classical Vibrio cholera. It has established a foothold here and has become an endemic disease in this part of the world. No less than fourteen bacteriological proven cases could be traced to lunch boxes supplied by a mobile van in Kwun Tong. It is highly suspicious that there may be pockets of reservoirs of carriers in our midst, especially among our food handlers which may be liable to erupt into an outbreak, should our surveillance relax. Like any other food-borne or water-borne diseases cholera and food poisoning cases are spread by contaminated water or food we consume, and hence the importance attached to the surveillance and supervision of our food handlers. The swift manner by which the recent outbreak was under control may also mean an equally swift manner by which it may later come back, if we were not to keep up our sustained effort in maintaining a high food hygiene standard. There is no place for self-complacency and today's motion serves not only to endorse the efficiency of our various government departments in the control of cholera but it also serves as a reminder to us all to keep up the good work at all times. With these words, Mr. Chairman, I support the motion.
MR. JOSEPH Y. S. CHAN (in Cantonese):- Mr. Chairman, I support Mr. Peter CHAN'S motion wholeheartedly. Hong Kong was declared a cholera affected area and after that the people of Hong Kong were stricken by panic and they even lined up to receive injection against cholera. It was really confused in order to combat cholera and to educate the public the various government departments have operated to a large extent and they have taken prompt and efficient action to take appropriate measure and these should attract our appreciation. Our USD staff have executed their duties to enhance food hygiene standards days and nights in order to prevent the spread of the cholera. They are the workers at the front line and they should again receive our appreciation. Also in publicity, in education, and in guiding citizens about civil education, the Urban