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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. STEPHEN LAU MAN-LUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE MARKETS AND STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):—This three-part question relates to the Chai Wan Temporary Market and its vicinity.
The first part relates to complaints of bad smells emanating from the vicinity of this market. The area around the Chai Wan Temporary Market has always been a magnet for illegal hawkers and, as such, is subject to stringent hawker control on a daily basis. These illegal hawkers often run away on the approach of our GDT squads, leaving behind waste material including rotting fruits, vegetables and other refuse. This can readily give rise to bad smells, if left to accumulate. Fully aware of this, the Department has the area swept four times per day and hosed down every other day. In addition, thorough tidy-up operations are carried out jointly by the cleansing and GDT staff once every week. As a result, cleanliness in the area is generally maintained in a satisfactory condition.
The Chai Wan Temporary Market, which is of open-sided construction, is also a potential odour source and as such, four cleansing operations are carried out daily in the market in order to maintain internal cleanliness.
However, to further improve the situation, the Department is now putting new arrangements in hand such that the refuse collection chamber in this Temporary Market will be emptied of refuse and junk three times a day in order to better handle the large refuse yield. This should also assist in minimizing any smell from the refuse chamber itself which, being a temporary facility, does not have any de-odourising system.
The second part of the question concerns the wooden boxes which illegal hawkers may be leaving behind to stake out their illegal pitches. During daily beat sweeping, especially in the late afternoon or evenings, all discarded articles including any wooden boxes left behind by hawkers are removed by the cleansing staff. Sometimes, however, there are large articles like chicken crates, concrete blocks, etc., which are too bulky to be removed by the beat sweeper. These items of junk thus have to be dealt with separately during the scheduled weekly joint operations to which I have already referred. The Department will, however, do its best to increase the frequency of removal of junk, subject to availability of resources, so as to bring further improvements to the area.
The third part of the question asks if the Department has knowledge of possible triad activities or elements amongst the hawkers in Chai Wan.
Departmental staff are not in a position to confirm whether or not there are triad elements among the hawkers in Chai Wan, or the extent of any triad influence. These are matters for the Police who advised that there is no overt triad activity within this hawker conglomeration. Nevertheless, whenever GDT staff are intimidated by people who claim to be triad members, reports are made immediately to the Police for their investigation and action. If Departmental staff have any suspicion that people with triad background may be interfering with their work, the relevant District Hygiene Superintendent will also bring the matter up for discussion with his Police counterpart at regular liaison meetings.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):--I thank Mr. LAU for a very full answer. I have one supplementary and i.e. whether it is in any way possible to remove concrete blocks and chicken crates etc. more regularly than once a week?
MR. STEPHEN LAU MAN-LUNG (in English):—Mr. Chairman, in addition to beat sweeping and hosing down of the street in the vicinity during the day time as referred in my main reply, the Department also makes arrangement to carry out gang sweeping at 8 p.m. daily. This is supplemented by street washing in the late evening on alternative days. The additional measure will no doubt bring about further improvement to the area in question.
MR. WONG HON-CHING (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In the vicinity of the Chai Wan Temporary Market, illegal hawkers are attracted to the area and this is a very serious problem. This is a fact. I would like to ask whether Mr. LAU can tell me this. Clearance of illegal hawking area daily is of course a possible measure but is a negative one. Can we send a small team comprising three or four GDT members to station there permanently so that the hawkers cannot come back time and again? Can we send a small GDT there? Can we have a permanent GDT stationed there?
MR. STEPHEN LAU MAN-LUNG (in Cantonese):-Mr. WONG is very correct. Now in Eastern District we have eleven small GDTs. We have already mobilised two GDTs to station in the area concerned. In the past, together with the Police, every month we have a joint operation. In April 1992, we stepped up this measure to once a week, and then in June, we restructured our GDTs and among the eleven GDTs, five have already been reorganised. The arresting ability has already been strengthened and by early next year we hope to reorganise the remaining six teams. I believe that by early next year when we have reorganised all the eleven teams, we should review the situation to see whether the manpower is sufficient to cope with the situation. I am sure by then I will be able to give you a much better answer.
5. MR. FUNG KWONG-CHUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):— The USD has earlier on launched an 8 month major operation to improve the hygiene condition of food premises, which, with surprise checks conducted, aims at the various hygiene measures and food disposal problems of food premises. But has the Department ever considered the question whether the food on the way of delivery to shops or food premises is hygienic or not? For example, whether bread and siu mei etc. are covered and whether the food like frozen meat or milk is refrigerated? In this connection, I would like to ask whether the Department has any control on such condition through legislation? If yes, will it strengthen its prosecution in the course of this operation in order to improve the hygiene condition of food premises?
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