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१९५
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
239
monitor the work of the officers on outdoor duties. In this respect, the Hawker Control Officers are under stricter control than the street cleaners. Also, senior management staff will conduct spot checks on sites frequently to ensure that Hawker Control Officers carry out their duties properly and also, report to and go off duty punctually.
Mr. To Boon-man (in Cantonese):—I would like to follow up on my second question. My question asked clearly for figures relating to the supervisory staff and their subordinates for the past 12 months. The reply missed out the figures for the subordinates and only gave figures related to the 5 supervisory staff. So, can we have figures for the subordinates as well? Secondly, according to the reply for my third question, are the measures sufficient to plug the loopholes, and will these loopholes disappear in future?
MR. SUEN KAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):—Maybe the Secretariat has not passed on the full question to me because I only have figures relating to the Officer rank staff. Figures related to staff below the Officer rank who are involved with unauthorised absence from duty will be provided to Mr. To after the meeting. As to whether the current monitoring mechanism is a perfect system that will never fail, I think one can never be sure of that. The Department will of course keep a close eye on this inspection system. In fact, ever since May 1994 when we created the new Hawker Control Officer grade to replace the General Duties Team with a view to enhancing the quality of the Hawker Control staff and improving internal management, there are improvements in the management of the team members. Of course, the Department has noticed that there are still some problems. In this respect, the Department as well as the Markets and Street Traders Select Committee are keeping watch on the situation to see how we can further enhance the quality of the Hawker Control Force.
THE HON. LI WAH-MING (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I have 2 follow-up questions. The first question relates to the General Duties Team. I learn from the press that the Officer concerned appealed to the High Court because he said he was only acting in the same way as his colleagues and he was not a special case. So there is no reason why he should be singled out for punishment. As that case has been closed, I think we can discuss the case. The case showed clearly that the officer concerned had been absent from duty without any authority on quite a number of occasions. So I would like to ask, would the Department refrain from taking resolute actions against an officer because he has served in the Department for a long period of time, even though there are records of his unauthorized absence from duty on numerous occasions? Now the punishment on this officer is lenient as he would still be enjoying retirement and pension benefits. So has the Department always been tolerant to some staff, particularly those at the basic level as in this case, where the officer concerned was an overseer, a front line
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