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with the Regional Council and build, as soon as possible, a permanent check point at Man Kam To where stringent checks on vegetables from Mainland China can be conducted. I also hope that the Department will step up its inspection of meat stalls so as to protect public health by making sure that the meat on sale meets the required standard. Certainly, the Department should also continue to strengthen its publicity in health education.
(3) Recreation and Sports Facilities
The Council spares no efforts in providing cultural, recreational and sports facilities for the public. I welcome the extension of the Council's concessionary scheme to students so that they may hire some recreational and sports facilities at concessionary rates during off-peak hours. I hope this concessionary scheme can be publicized to the students via relevant channels so that they may make good use of it. One of the Council's aims of work in leisure services is to study new trend and development and encourage the public to participate in such activities with their families. As far as this objective is concerned, we achieved very good results last year. The children's play room in Java Road Indoor Games Hall proposed by me has been completed and enjoys very good patronage. I understand that similar children's play rooms will be set up in other UC complexes. I also hope that the Council can quicken its pace in building a leisure pool in Eastern District in order to meet the residents' needs. Lastly, I would like to request the Council once again to actively consider building some additional recreational and sports venues on the top of the UC Electric Road Complex. You may recall that we have succeeded in fighting for the strengthening of the foundation of the UC Electric Road Complex for the purpose of adding 4 more storeys on its top for other suitable uses. In this connection, I suggest the Council build indoor recreational and sports venues at its own expense or provide various types of cultural, recreational and sports facilities jointly with other departments such as the Social Welfare Department. I hope the Council will take my proposal into active consideration.
I hope my above proposals will be realized one after another in the near future. With these remarks, I support the motion.
MR. AMBROSE CHEUNG WING-SUM (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, before the formal debate is set on, I, as one of the members sitting at the front row, would like to thank our colleagues at the back row for the respect they have shown to us. We should really learn from them in this regard. Miss Christina TING mentioned just now that this would probably be the last Annual Conventional Debate in her term of office. I have more confidence than she, because I believe it is not 'probably' but 'definitely' the last. The Sino-British wrestle that I described last year was actually an outright tragedy and I do not want to talk about it this year. However, I am going to comment on two equally tragic incidents which occurred in Sham Shui Po recently.
The first incident was that a bank was set on fire at Shek Kip Mei Upper Estate. May I first extend my deepest condolence to the victims and their
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families and wish the injured a quick recovery. I hope that the government and the departments concerned may learn a good lesson from this tragedy so that similar incidents would not happen again in future. From this incident, we can see that bank security conflicted seriously with personal safety and fire prevention. The design of the premises in question virtually made it very difficult for the staff to escape when the fire broke out. Firstly, there was no emergency escape or fire exit. Secondly, when the electricity went off, the staff had to feel their way out in complete darkness. Yet, the security doors could not be opened. The firemen and the police who came to rescue were also confronted with great difficulties, resulting in the present heavy casualties. All these reveal that the existing laws, including the Building Ordinance and the Fire Safety Regulations, are basically inadequate for the authorities to monitor the fire precautions of bank branches and other similar commercial premises in an effective way, thus providing insufficient protection for employees and members of the public staying in them. The departments concerned may say that the unit in question is up to standard and has nothing wrong according to the existing legislation. Yet I want to ask if the designs of this unit were submitted to the departments concerned today for consideration, would they dare to give their approval? In view of this incident, I would like to make some suggestions. First, commercial buildings should have basic fire safety installations including reserve electricity supply and lighting facilities. Thus, in case a fire breaks out, reserve lights will be available for escape and rescue even though the main electricity supply has failed. Second, such installations should include smoke extraction and ventilation systems so that air and smoke can be extracted and discharged into the streets right away. In a fire like this, victims were overcome by smoke or suffocated to death mainly because of the inhalation of heavy smoke. A simple smoke extraction system may allow more time for rescue, thus facilitating the work of the rescue team and reducing the number of casualties. Third, both the emergency escape and the fire exit are essential. Fourth, though double electric doors have been installed for security reasons, they should be able to be opened by hands in times of emergency. If the above systems had been installed, this incident would not have been so serious. These proposals do not involve any structural alteration to the premises but are related to the installation of equipment that all conscientious business organizations can afford to provide. As regards the proposal to install an automatic sprinkler system, it is inevitable that the structural conversion has to be made. Is an automatic sprinkler system an effective way of preventing fire in a small unit? Is it cost-effective to install such a system? I believe even if an automatic sprinkler system had been installed in the present incident, it would not have been of much use, as most of the staff were either suffocated to death or overcome by black smoke. They were not injured or killed by burning. I am glad to hear that the Government and the Hong Kong Association of Banks had set up their own ad hoc group to review the relevant existing ordinances and the safety facilities of banks in order to remedy the situation. The Government and the banking corporation concerned are considered to be the largest organizations in Hong Kong. They should show to the public that they would act in a
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