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MR. JASON YUEN KING-YUK (in Cantonese):—I would like to ask a follow-up question. In view of the fact that many libraries overseas have a central registry or a central record office, I wonder if our committee could approach the central government on the possibility of managing the Public Records Office which is at present having difficulty of accommodation.
CHAIRMAN (in English):—Are you ready to answer? May be you can refer this issue for discussion by the Libraries Select Committee.
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, yes, we could discuss this question in detail at the Libraries Select Committee meeting. As regards the information of libraries overseas we are going to have a CD-ROM system installed in all libraries. This CD-ROM system is connected to libraries overseas and you could retrieve information from such system. After the computerization of our libraries, the computer company that we are going to contract our project to will give us two router system which allows us to gain access to libraries in other tertiary institutions so that we can also retrieve information from such tertiary institutions.
3. MR. B. A. BERNACCHI asked the following question (in English):-I have received representations from the shop operators in Kam Wah Street who have two (connected) complaints:
(i) Illegal hawking in Kam Wah Street is worse than ever before. The GD teams are (now) only on duty in the afternoon, therefore the shopkeepers can do no business in the morning. Why cannot the teams be re-scheduled for the morning and the afternoon?
(ii) The sanitation in this street is worse than ever before. Can something be done about it?
MR. IP KWOK-CHUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE MARKETS AND STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):-Mr Chairman, this question concerns Kam Wah Street in Shaukeiwan. It is a two-part question. The first part expresses concern about the illegal hawking situation there and asks whether the operation of the GD teams could be re-scheduled so that they can remain on duty both in the morning and the afternoon rather than only in the afternoons as at present.
Kam Wah Street, together with two other streets nearby, namely Mong Lung Street and Tai Tak Street, is one of the busiest hawker areas in Hong Kong region. In this area, there are altogether 248 licensed fixed-pitch hawkers trading on street and selling a large variety of commodities including vegetable, fruit, grocery products and dry goods. Since this is a very viable hawking location, it inevitably attracts some unlicensed hawkers.
Hawker control duties in Eastern district are handled by 11 GDT squads operating in two shifts. As these squads have to cover such a large area and as illegal hawkers are so mobile, it is simply not possible to ensure that each and every street and lane in the district is kept totally free of illegal hawkers at any one time. Mr. BERNACCHI may recall that on 12 May 1992 in reply to his earlier question in the Council also concerning Kam Wah Street, it was explained that because of limited resources, regular enforcement action in the form of raiding operations were mounted in both the morning and afternoon shifts in order to deter unlicensed hawkers from plying for trade in this locality. Subsequently, in November last year, the GDT squads in Eastern district were re-structured and at the same time the deployment pattern of the squads was reviewed. Consequently, one squad was detailed to carry out static patrol duties in Kam Wah Street area in the afternoon while the morning shift continued to be covered by raiding operations. Since that time, after the middle of March 1993, a total of 387 arrests and 202 seizures of hawking paraphernalia and goods have been effected by the GDT during the raiding operations. The illegal hawking situation in the area is assessed by the Department to have improved considerably as reflected by quarterly headcounts of unlicensed hawkers which reveal that, over the last six months, the number has dropped by almost two-thirds. Perhaps I can supplement the information in September 1992, the headcounts was 192, however, in December last year, the number drops to only 49 and in March 1993, the number drops to only 35.
The Department has re-examined GDT strength and deployment in Eastern district and has found it impossible to re-schedule the operations in Kam Wah Street area so that GDT squads can remain on duty in both the morning and the afternoon shifts. This is mainly because they have to cover a large area in the Eastern district and there are many other blackspots and commitments to which they have to attend. However, the Department will continue to regularly review the situation.
As regards the second part of the question about the sanitary condition of Kam Wah Street, it is swept four times daily by a beat sweeper four times a day and, in addition, gang sweeping is carried out in the late evening after the hawkers have finished their business. Also the GDT and cleansing staff will carry out joint cleansing operations on an ad-hoc basis to clear discarded articles, hose down the streets and lanes. Generally speaking, given the hawking and other activities in the area, the sanitary condition of the street is considered to be acceptable, however, Departmental staff will continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure that it will not deteriorate.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):-Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask five short supplementary questions.
The first is on paragraph 3 of the English version. Since Kam Wah Street is a viable hawking location, it inevitably attracts some unlicensed hawkers. Would not the Chairman of the Markets and Traders Select Committee consider that a better word would be a lot of unlicensed hawkers.
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