Page 92 of 132
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
As Vice-Chairman of the Public Health Select Committee for the year 1993, I am naturally more concerned about public hygiene and matters relating to it. In regard to food hygiene, especially the hygienic conditions in food premises, the Council and the Urban Services Department have made significant efforts in the past year, including holding, with considerable success, a Restaurant Hygiene Competition, to remind the operators of food premises to improve and upgrade the quality of their food. I am very disappointed, however, that dog excreta and rubbish can be seen everywhere. We find nearly every day in the newspapers complaints by readers about dirty streets soiled by dog excreta. Apart from being a nuisance, it also affects our environmental hygiene. There has been a marked increase of this kind of cases for the past two years. Many Councillors raised this problem before different committees on many occasions and provided improvement methods. It is a pity that the Department has not formulated any plan or taken any action to tackle the problem. As a result, the problem and also the complaints become increasingly serious.
Once, an old person in his 70's met me in the morning and said, 'There are dog droppings everywhere in the street, and now I have to hop right and left in order to pass this street.' He asked me if there was nothing else on the street besides dog excreta and rubbish. He also asked me whether the staff of Urban Services Department patrolled and washed the streets and carried out enforcement action. At that time, I was really speechless. Mr. Chairman, dogs freely soiling the streets has actually become a serious problem. Even more serious is of course the recent incident in which a girl was bitten to death by dogs. In fact, this incident could have been avoided. However, the relevant government departments, such as the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, the police and the Urban Services Department, have not been serious in dealing with this sort of problem all along. I hope these departments will work out relevant policies as soon as possible, or this kind of tragedy may still recur. Perhaps one day when Mr. Chairman or the Director of Urban Services and our colleagues walk in the streets, they may all have to walk like children playing hop-scotch, in order to avoid stepping on dog excreta.
The other thing that I want to talk about is Urban Council meetings. Many Councillors feel that the Urban Council meetings have all along been conducted in a harmonious and cooperative atmosphere with discussions confining to matters at issue, and some of them have stated several times that the harmonious and cooperative atmosphere of the Council will be destroyed if appointed seats are abolished. The worry is, in fact, only presumptive. But unfortunately, this phenomenon began to appear yesterday. When yesterday's meeting proceeded to Item 7 on the Agenda and I was asked to speak by the Committee Chairman, a Councillor interrupted my speech a few times to query whether it was in accordance with the provisions of the Standing Orders for Meetings to tape the proceedings of the public session for record purpose. Actually, tape recording is only a way to record the meeting. Besides, it was a public session that was recorded. It was also suggested that there was no need to extensively and thoroughly discuss how the Smithfield Road Extension project would affect the Council's Pokfulam Road Playground. In fact, the Pokfulam Road Playground is a major leisure ground for Mid-level residents on the west side of the Island, and fortunately a majority of Councillors wisely rejected the request for alienation of land by the Highways Department and the Transport Department at the meeting. The above example shows that the harmony and efficiency of a meeting do not depend on whether the Councillors are appointed or not. The harmonious atmosphere can be preserved if Councillors can confine their discussions to matters at issue, abstain from others and devote themselves to serve the community whole-heartedly. I hope that all my colleagues can put away their prejudice and confine their discussions to matters at issue in the coming meetings to the benefit of everybody.
Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR. SAN STEPHEN WONG HON-CHING (in Cantonese): People in Hong Kong always talk about human rights, yet I wonder if anyone would fight for animal rights. We are well aware that the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens are housing a group of helpless animals awaiting recognition of their rights. They are confined to their cages all day, all month and all year, until the final hour when they have to meet their death.
I remember visiting the Gardens every now and then in my childhood. In those days, it appeared to me that animals strolling to and fro or climbing up and down in their cages was a rather amusing sight. I did not have any uneasy feeling since I had no idea of animal rights at that time. As I grew older, I nevertheless began to realize that every animal, every creature has its own rights. I can no longer bear to see animals living in cages, totally cut off from nature. I really feel sorry for them.
It was only recently that my troubled mind was eased. Last year, I was pleased to learn that the Urban Services Department had planned to develop a new and spacious enclosure for the jaguar. However, other animals, including gorillas and monkeys which bear the strongest resemblance to human beings, are not as lucky. They are still kept in poky cages.
Animals in fact should have their own rights. In order to ensure that animals in the Gardens can lead a peaceful life in their remaining years, I propose to separate the existing Zoological and Botanical Gardens, with the former relocated to Lei Yue Mun Park and the latter remaining in the existing site. By doing so, the animals will be provided with a larger living space and thus may have their life span extended. The Department can explore the feasibility of setting up a semi-open zoo in Lei Yue Mun Park. We should adopt a humane attitude in improving and changing the life and fate of animals so that our younger generation will have a different perception of zoos. Animals should not be cage-bound. They are part of nature and hence we should provide them with a better garden.
Page 92 of 132
186
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
187