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know where the error lies? I think you must act on the error, otherwise in May you several meetings with the parties concerned on this matter. So I would like to have another 14 fans, may be next year you are going to have more fans, but the problem still remains unsolved. When will the Department find out the error in the ventilation system because the cooked food centre is not very large and there not many stalls in it? Why is it after so many years we still don't know where the error is?
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MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN (in English):—Mr. Chairman, all I can say is that this being more of a technical matter which I don't think will be resolved today's meeting, I will arrange to have this particular question discussed at an early meeting of the Select Committee, so we can go ahead.
MR. TONG KAM-BIU (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, what I want to know is: why is it that up till now we still fail to identify the error? I think we should try to find out actually the error rather than to assume something. Is it true that the error has not been identified yet?
MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN (in English):-I am not sure whether we can put it that way, Mr. Chairman. I think the Urban Services Department have all the expertise and technical back-up to see if the best uses are made of this market and to see if the facilities are best provided within the resources available. But any suggestions from Councillors will be given consideration as we all would like to see this temporary market improved as much as possible.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):-Mr. Chairman, the Council has policy from time to time expended various amount of money on this temporary market and it is the policy that money can be expended on temporary markets. Although they are called temporary, and the occupation of Crown Land is only permitted for two or three years' time, nevertheless, usually renewed and renewed again, as you say, as the post office was renewed for 50 years. So, what really is the magic of mid-1992? Do we have to get out or when it comes, should I say, will the licence or permit to us be renewed again for another two or three years?
(Mr. PAO Ping-wing left the meeting at 3.13 a.m.)
MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN (in English): Mr. Chairman, the answer to Mr. BERNACCHI's point is that the Department will have to go into this further and report back to the Select Committee concerned. We and the Select Committee are just as interested about this particular point as raised by Mr. BERNACCHI.
STATEMENT
MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN, CHAIRMAN OF THE MARKETS AND STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE (in English):-Mr. Chairman, I rise to thank fellow members for their valuable comments and suggestions on hawker matters given during the last Council year. As the Chairman of the Council's Markets and Street Traders Select Committee, I would like to state categorically at the start of the 1990-91 term the Council's determination and commitment in solving the problems posed by illegal hawking activities which have been a cause of public concern.
Illegal hawking activities have been a long-standing problem for which there is no easy solution. Apart from causing environmental nuisances and obstruction, and threatening pedestrian safety, the unlicensed hawkers, particularly those engaged in selling cooked food, present a serious health risk which has been responsible for outbreaks of cholera and other diseases in the past. In addition, they also pose unfair competition to the market tenants and licensed hawkers who have legitimately obtained their right to hawk within the framework of the law.
The Urban Services Department is working closely with the Working Group on Hawker Control to urge the Government to assist this Council in solving the hawker problem through the provision of financial, land and other resources as recommended by the Working Party on Hawker and Related Policies. The Council needs the full and sustained support from the Government.
The Department has also embarked on new measures, such as the extension of the working hours of the General Duty Teams (GDT) and the implementation of the law requiring licensed hawkers to wear their licence badges to enable easy identification of the licensed hawkers from the unlicensed one.
The Urban Services Department also actively enlists the co-operation of other Government departments in helping to stamp out illegal hawking activities. The Housing Department and the Police have given good support by mounting joint operations in the periphery of public housing estates and in hawker blackspots. Many District Boards have also pledged their support for a more vigorous effort to eliminate the illegal hawking problem in the territory.
District Boards and Area Committees could further assist by encouraging residents to help solve the problem at source by not patronizing illegal hawkers, particularly those selling cooked food illegally.
The Department's GDT members have been working hard in carrying out enforcement actions against the illegal hawkers. The adjustment of their duty hours is sometimes required as in the case of Causeway Bay; some other districts have hawker problems of similar nature and the Department is making arrangements to address these problems as soon as possible.
I wish to pay tribute to the GDTs for their hard work in the public interest. The Council is aware of the feelings of the GDT members and appreciate the patience they have displayed over their request for better pay and service conditions.
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