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underemployed. Every year, the Urban Council contracts out a large number of capital works projects and the amount involved is very great. In the past, the contracts never spelled out clearly that overseas workers could not be employed and as a result, contractors were able to employ overseas workers even though the figure was not very high. But, due to the turndown in economic development and in the light of the obvious increase in the unemployment rate in Hong Kong, we basically support the spirit behind Mr. Fred Li's original motion and I also hope that the Council can play an active and leading role in specifying that unless with Council's approval, the contractors concerned cannot employ overseas workers. With such a policy, we can give priority to employing local workers thus providing more job opportunities to local workers.
Lastly, I would like to make one more point. If we are to adopt the policy of giving priority to employing local workers, the Council must strengthen control over our contractors to ensure that no illegal workers are being employed. According to the statistics for 1994 provided by the Immigration Department, there were more than 5,400 prosecutions against the employment of illegal workers. If we endorse the amended motion, I would like to urge the Urban Council to set up a task force to join hands with the Government to ensure that the contractors undertaking Council's projects do not employ illegal workers.
MR. FRANCIS TANG CHI-HO (in Cantonese):—Mr. Fred Li's proposal really helps to allay some Members' worries. In fact, the motion 'overseas workers cannot be employed without Council's approval' ties in with Mr. Daniel To's amendment. We know that some companies have a particular need for unskilled workers. We did not say that we disallow the import of unskilled workers but the companies must obtain prior approval of the Council.
Secondly, after our rational analysis, we know that the rise in the unemployment rate in Hong Kong is not merely due to the import of overseas workers, so we agree to the amendment that the Council should have the ultimate authority to decide. For catering companies and other institutions which already employed overseas workers, the question has been raised whether we have to terminate the contracts immediately. In fact, we can allow those contracts to run their course and then stipulate in the new contract that no more overseas workers should be employed. While we support Mr. Daniel To's amendment, the original motion does not imply that we support the import of overseas workers.
Mr. Joseph LAI CHI-KEONG (in Cantonese):—I find that the Chairman has handled today's discussion very wisely. Normally, Members will not be allowed to speak on the original motion after an amendment is moved. In this case, Members may speak on the original and the amended motions. This reflects that the views of Members towards workers are similar. Some people complain that the Democratic Party is not rational and in fact it is an insult not only to the Party but also to you, Mr. Chairman. We have really thought it over
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