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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
The answer is that no lights in the Council's cemeteries and crematoria are turned on 24 hours a day. They are in fact turned off in the daytime.
However, in some cemeteries and columbarium, there is a need to keep some lights on during the hours of darkness. At the Hong Kong Cemetery, four light points are lit at night till next morning to illuminate the foot-paths. This is considered reasonable and essential on security grounds.
At Cape Collinson crematorium and columbarium, a total of 23 light points are switched on at night till the next morning. This is to provide minimum illumination at the crematoria building and various footpaths leading to the columbarium to facilitate patrols by the watchman.
For the same reason, at Diamond Hill Crematorium and Columbarium, a total of 180 light points are turned on at night till morning the next day. The large number of light points required is due to the fact that this venue covers a large area comprising 35 columbarium blocks, a 9 storey columbarium building and the main crematorium. The light points turned on are kept at minimum to illuminate footpaths to facilitate patrol by the watchman. The light points at the upper floors of the 9 storey columbarium block are all switched off at night. These footpaths also serve as access paths to the adjacent squatter area.
I wish to add that night patrol by watchmen in crematoria and columbaria is necessary to prevent vandalism and theft. Apart from the records kept therein which are important, the equipment installed is sophisticated and very expensive. Any tampering may cause damage to the equipment resulting in serious disruption to this vital public service because such equipment is of specialist nature and replacement of parts may not be readily obtained locally. The provision of lights to enable effective night patrol is therefore essential.
MISS CECILIA L. Y. YEUNG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, why don't we have some facilities to enable the gates be closed so that no one can enter and the lights can be turned off automatically when no one is there.
DR. RONALD D. B. LEUNG (in English):—Mr. Chairman, this can be considered to bar off the public during the night hours and I think the department will take this up for further actions. Bollards may be introduced to bar the cars from entering the property at night and also iron fences can be made at the boundary to prevent the public access to the columbarium at night time.
4. MR. PETER C. K. CHAN asked the following question (in English):—The Council has been discussing privatization of our abattoirs for sometime; can we be informed on how the matter is progressing?
MR. L. H. KWAN, CHAIRMAN OF THE FOOD HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-The question asks about the progress of the UC abattoir privatization scheme.
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The proposal, to privatize the Council's abattoirs at Kennedy Town and Cheung Sha Wan was approved in principle by Members back in June 1986. As a result, USD was authorized to look into the necessary arrangements. As it is a complex matter which also involves the re-organization of abattoir service for the whole Territory, Members of the Council agreed that they should leave the planning and negotiations to the Department.
With the approval of the Council, a new Privatization Division was set up within the Department in November 1986 to look into this scheme and to oversee other UC privatization projects. Since the establishment of this Division, efforts have been focused on drawing up a package for implementation of the abattoir privatization scheme and resolving problems arising from staff redundancies.
On the leasing out of the Kennedy Town Abattoir and sale of the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse site which form Phase I of the programme, basic terms and arrangements have now been drawn up in consultation with various government departments concerned and USD is about to enter into formal negotiation with the prospective consortium (i.e. Ng Fung Hong) on these proposals. The negotiation will include inter-alia conditions for the leasing of Kennedy Town Abattoir on a short term tenancy basis, sale of the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse site by private treaty grant, environmental controls for the operation of these slaughterhouses, disposal of abattoir waste products, transport of animals, etc. Also in connection with the leasing out of Kennedy Town Abattoir, the Architectural Services Department has appointed a consultant to conduct a full scale condition survey of the Abattoir which includes drainage, building structure and finishes, plumbing system and main electricity distribution system. It is expected that a report on the study will be available around July.
On the staffing arrangements, so far three rounds of consultative meetings have been held with the abattoir staff. In the last round of meetings which took place between 28 March and 8 April 1988, staff were consulted on the proposals made by the Administration, which basically include options for the affected staff (i.e. Butchers and Tally Clerks) to choose either redundancy, retiring on abolition of office terms or redeployment to other posts within the civil service. Although the staff side sees no strong objection to the abattoir privatization proposal, they are not prepared to accept the terms proposed by the Administration and have counter proposed a number of requests. In the latest round of consultation, a significant request made by the staff side is the proposal that abattoir staff who are made redundant should be paid ex-gratia payment at a rate of one month's salary for each year of service. These requests together with the views of departmental management are currently under careful consideration by the Administration. Further meetings with the staff side will be held as soon as the Administration's response is received.
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