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hawker conviction records, compulsory wearing of hawker badges, revision of arrest and seizure procedures, flexible deployment of market protection squads, and a review of General Duties Teams transport requirements.
Hawker Licensing
By 31 March 1991, there were 13,900 hawker licensees, a reduction of 2,700 from 1989. The decrease was mainly due to the continued efforts to move on-street hawkers into newly-commissioned Council markets. The Itinerant Hawker Licence Reduction Scheme introduced in early 1990 also resulted in the surrender of Itinerant Hawker Licences in exchange for an ex-gratia payment, a fixed pitch hawker licence or a market mini stall tenancy at concessionary rental. By March 1991, 1,077 licences were surrendered under this scheme.
One of the Recommendations of the Working Party to Review Hawker and Related Policies was that additional newspaper hawker licences should be issued. In the first phase of this exercise, 209 fixed pitch newspaper hawker licences have been already issued.
Besides unlicensed food vendors, licensed cooked food hawkers have long been a source of environmental and traffic problems. The Urban Council has spared no effort in either resiting them into cooked food centres or offering licensees, on a voluntary basis, an ex-gratia payment now at $60,000 in return for surrender of their licences. To date, the number of on-street cooked food stalls stands at 159 compared with 797 in early 1983. The Council would like to see this number reduced even more.
Markets
The total number of markets managed by the Council is now 60 with 9,240 market stalls selling a wide variety of food and other items. Within this number, there are also 30 cooked food centres comprising 563 stalls.
The Working Group on the Provision of Marketing Facilities was established in July 1989 to examine mainly the provision of Sham Shui Po market facilities. The Working Group now regularly scrutinises proposals for all new markets. This initial consideration by the Working Group has certainly helped to streamline and increase the productivity of the Markets and Street Traders Select Committee.
In implementing the Statement of Aims for markets, the Department has taken steps to strengthen management. Steps are also being taken to improve the environment within markets. We look forward to achieving cleaner markets cost-effectively by contracting out market cleansing. It has worked well in Po On Road Market, and it will be extended progressively to other markets, thus providing additional staffing benefits in this period of zero growth. In order to overcome the problems of heat and the lack of fresh air, the MEAT system is now becoming a standard item in new markets as is improved ventilation. The design and general appearance of markets has also undergone a significant transformation. The Shek Tong Tsui Market is an example of how much can be done with even a difficult site.
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By the end of 1995, there should be about 10 additional markets. It is expected by then many streets where hawkers now proliferate and indeed entire districts will be completely cleared of vegetable, fruit and cooked food hawkers.
At present the Department is closely negotiating with the Land Development Corporation on three market projects within the Urban Area. Their materialization will be beneficial to both the Council and the respective district communities.
Mr. Chairman, I wish to thank you and other members of the Council, and equally the Director of Urban Services and his staff who have been involved in the work relating to the Markets and Street Traders Select Committee, for their patient and devoted efforts in this aspect of Council responsibility.
The work is not glamorous or even fully understood or appreciated by the general public. But it is important for the daily provision of clean and healthy food, and making life less noisy and better environmentally for our 4 million urban residents.
I am sure that the work of the Markets and Street Traders Select Committee will grow from strength to strength in the years ahead.
Mr. Chairman, I started off this statement by saying that today is my last meeting as a directly elected Urban Councillor after an unbroken period of 34 years service. During this period, I served 9 years as a Legislative Councillor, 6 years as a District Board member, and about 22 years on the Housing Authority and 12 years on the Central Fight Crime Committee, in addition to service on other Government advisory committees and boards.
I would like to say today how much I have enjoyed and appreciated working together with my fellow Urban Councillors, both appointed and elected, throughout all these years. I am grateful for the cooperation, support and courtesy given to me both by the Urban Council Secretariat staff and the Director of Urban Services and his staff. All this has made my 34 years of service as an elected Urban Councillor both memorable and worthy of the effort.
The Civic Association has continuously had its representatives in the Urban Council for 35 years running—that is since 1956—and for the next 4 years our two remaining Civic Association members who have been re-elected to this Council will as always remain above party politics in service to the people of Hong Kong.
I shall not be a candidate for any seat in the Legislative Council coming September, either functional or directly elected.
But in my capacity as Chairman of the Civic Association, I shall most certainly be encouraging other Hong Kong residents to participate as candidates and thus strengthen civic responsibility and the democratic processes in Hong Kong.
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