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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
'RESOLVED that the Dutiable Commodities (Liquor Licences) (Specification of Fees) (Urban Council Area) Notice 1987 be made under section 6(5) of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, Cap. 109.'
The Dutiable Commodities (Liquor Licences) (Specification of Fees) (Urban Council Area) Notice 1987 made under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance now before the Council will, when adopted, increase the fees for liquor and club liquor licences by 7.7%.
The existing fees for liquor and club liquor licences have remained static since April 1981, and so far the revenue generated has been sufficient to cover the administrative costs involved in licensing and control. However, this will not be the case for the current fiscal year. If the licence fees remain unchanged, there will be a deficit of $150,000 for the Liquor Licensing Board in 1987–88.
The purpose of the amendment Notice is to help meet the annual cost of administering the licensing and control system of this business to maintain a reasonable standard of hygiene and to safeguard public health.
The increases have been carefully considered by the Liquor Licensing Board and the Standing Committee of the Whole Council, and I am satisfied that due weight has been given to all implications of the proposals.
Mr. Chairman, I beg to move.
MISS CECILIA L. Y. YEUNG, VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE LIQUOR LICENSING BOARD, seconded the motion (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.
The question was put.
The motion was carried unanimously.
6. MR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG, CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION SELECT COMMITTEE, moved the following motion (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, as Chairman of the Recreation Select Committee, I rise on the motion standing in my name:-
'Resolved that the Pleasure Grounds (Urban Council) (Amendment) By-laws 1987 be made under section 109 of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, Cap. 132.'
The purpose of the amendment By-laws is to revise the existing fee structure for use of the Victoria Park Centre Court and the exhibition court at the Hong Kong Squash Centre.
Sir, I beg to move.
MR. FAN KAM-PING, Vice-Chairman of the Recreation Select Committee, seconded the motion (in Cantonese):--Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.
The question was put.
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The motion was carried unanimously.
7. THE CHAIRMAN, URBAN COUNCIL, moved the following motion (in English):---I rise to move the Motion Standing in my name.
*RESOLVED that the Council presents its views on Chapter III of the Green Paper: The 1987 Review of Developments in Representative Government'. This Motion is to allow Members to express their views on Chapter 3 of the Green Paper on 'The 1987 Review of Development in Representative Government', which contains various proposals for the second and third tiers of Government. Councillors will have an opportunity to make their views known on the constitutional matters in the rest of the Green Paper at the 8th September Council meeting.
Meanwhile, let us welcome Mr. Andrew So Kwok-wing and Mr. Kwan Wing-wah from the Survey Office who have come to listen to Members' views.
The Urban Council is a working Council and is less politically motivated than either the District Boards or the Legislative Council. We have far too much practical work to deal with to be involved in politics. This I firmly believe is to the benefit of the man-in-the-street. Our job is to see that people play in our playgrounds, swim in our pools, entertain their families in our venues and obtain the better things in life through our public libraries and cultural venues. Urban Councillors gain their satisfaction from ensuring that we have a cleaner and more healthy city rather than in making futile political gestures.
We have a lot of discussion, but our talk is essentially to some practical purpose on almost every issue. Consequently, we find the proposals in Chapter III of the Green Paper to be mainly about suggestions for making changes for the sake of change, presumably to satisfy political aspirations of a small section of the community. Nowhere does this document take into account the work which is required of us.
In considering various political developments in Hong Kong, I would like to know whether Government has done a costing on the amount of money that the tax-payers of Hong Kong are required to pay for what is already in place. Most Councillors sit through many hours of District Board meetings where there are quite a number of senior civil servants, who are paid to perform various tasks within the Government, but who are required to sit for hours on end listening to matters which have little or no direct interest to their jobs. I understand that they must wait until the end of the meeting just in case one or two Members might raise matters under 'any other business' which might be of concern to them. As this happens every six weeks in 19 different boards, I submit that the cost to tax-payers on this non-productive attendance by senior civil servants must add up to a tidy sum. I would hope that Government would provide some mechanism whereby civil servants only need to attend District Boards to deal
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