236

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN

CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):-May I call the meeting to order.

I

CONFIRMATION OF THE MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 10 OCTOBER 1995

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 1995 were confirmed.

II

PAPERS LAID

The following papers were laid:

Report to the Urban Council by the Secretary, Urban Council, for the month of October 1995.

III QUESTIONS

1.

MR. CHAN KWOK-LEUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):- The recent media reports about the unauthorised absence from duty of some Urban Services Department staff have aroused public concern. I would like to ask the following:

(a) Concerning the report that some street cleaners have neglected their duty deliberately, please provide information on the 12-month record of staff in that grade concerning their failure in reporting to work punctually, their unauthorised absence from duty, and the disciplinary actions taken against them.

(b) What is the employment relationship between the Department and street cleaners? Are street cleaners of the Department allowed or tacitly approved to collect rubbish and do cleansing work in private premises?

(c) It seems there are loopholes in the present system of attendance register and staff supervision, in that street cleaners may turn up late for work, may leave early and may be absent from duty without authority. If their superiors disregard these problems, what improvement measures would the Department take to plug the loopholes?

THE ADMINISTRATION SELECT MR. SUEN KAI-CHEONG, CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chan's question is in three parts.

The first part of the question requests the Department to provide information on the record of street cleaners who failed to report to work punctually or who were absent from duty without authority and disciplinary actions taken against them in the past 12 months. In the past 12 months, the Department has taken disciplinary actions against 10 Workmen II who were

Page 261

Share This Page