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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):—Ladies and Gentlemen, before starting this afternoon meeting, may I wish you all a very good Kung Hei Fat Choi and may your ideas come out as it should do in the year of that politic animal, the rabbit.
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 1987, were confirmed.
PAPER
The following paper was laid on the table:-
(1) Report to the Urban Council by the Director of Urban Services and Secretary, Urban Council, for the month of January 1987.
QUESTIONS
1. MR. CHAN KWOK-MING asked the following question (in Cantonese):---In a serious traffic accident on 16 January 1987 in Dundas Street (near Tung Choi Street), Mong Kok, thirteen passers-by and hawkers were injured. Of these, six were injured seriously and admitted into hospital. In fact there are frequently unlicensed cooked-food hawkers in this area causing obstruction to both traffic and pedestrians. There was also the case a few years ago of hawkers spilling boiling oil onto passers-by. What policy does the Council have in tackling unlicensed cooked-food hawkers in this area? How will the Council prevent this kind of unlicensed hawking in this area in order to avoid the recurrence of similar accidents?
MRS. ELSIE TU, VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE MARKETS AND STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):—This question refers to a serious traffic accident in Dundas Street, Mong Kok, on 16 January 1987, in which thirteen passers-by and hawkers were injured, and asks:--
(a) what policy the Council has for tackling unlicensed cooked-food hawkers in this area, and
(b) how Council will prevent this kind of unlicensed hawking in this area.
It is Council policy for the General Duties Teams (GDT) to endeavour to disperse any unlicensed hawkers, including unlicensed cooked-food hawkers in Dundas Street, in order to disrupt their business and prevent them from trading, particularly in busy pedestrian and traffic areas. The policy requires the GDT to arrest any such hawker who does not disperse.
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Since in some districts, including Mong Kok, the strength of the district GDT is not adequate to maintain this sort of control throughout the day because of the numbers of unlicensed hawkers involved and their belligerent attitude, it is Council policy to rely on its district management staff to deploy their limited resources to their best effect in the light of their local knowledge. In Mong Kok's case, the district hawker staff have increased flexibility by regrouping 5 squads into 6 smaller squads, the additional squad being used as reinforcement where needed to the 5 patrolling/raiding squads covering the 30-odd illegal hawker blackspots in Mong Kok District.
In addition Council maintains, in the Kowloon Region, a Regional GDT which can provide additional assistance to any district in that Region, including Mong Kok, for special operations, such as the concentration on cooked-food hawkers in Kwun Tong and elsewhere during the cholera outbreak.
Finally, Council has an understanding with the Police that for special tasks Police assistance can be requested for joint operations against hawker blackspots, for GDT operations where trouble is anticipated, and on call by dialling 999 if the GDT encounters trouble unexpectedly.
Regular operations by the GDT in this area have been carried out and 456 arrests were made in 1986 (a 35 per cent increase on 1985), but frequently confrontations with hawkers have taken place and in 9 recorded cases 7 GDT members have been injured and 2 subjected to intimidation and threats. Police escorts for the GDT on a daily basis have been requested, but unfortunately not granted because of the Police policy only to provide assistance on a task basis and when the Police Divisional Commander is satisfied that there is a genuine need to do so.
Referring to the second part of the question, since the traffic accident on 16 January the GDT Mong Kok have stepped-up patrolling and raiding in the Dundas Street area, but at the expense of hawker control duties in other areas. Police escort was also provided from 23 to 26 January on request.
MR. CHAN KWOK-MING (in Cantonese):-After the incident, it is quite true that the department has already stepped-up patrolling in the area. However, there has not been much improvement during the interim. Also during the Lunar New Year, in Dundas Street area, there were more than thirty (30) unlicensed hawkers hawkering in that area. According to the answer, there are 6 smaller squads. However, if you deploy 3 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon it appears that they cannot take care of a thousand unlicensed hawkers in the area. I don't think the manpower is sufficient. So could I know whether the department would deploy more staff?
MRS. ELSIE TU (in English):-Mr. Chairman, I am sure Mr. CHAN is right. There is not much improvement and there were more unlicensed hawkers at Chinese New Year and not only in Mong Kok but in every part of Hong Kong and Kowloon at Chinese New Year. I am sure that Mr. CHAN is right in stating that