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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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contributions on a wide range of topics, sharing with us their well-considered thoughts and suggesting various improvement measures for discharging Council's responsibilities more effectively and efficiently. My thanks go to them all for the time and effort they have expended on these matters.
Due to limitation of time, I shall respond to only some issues of greater concern to Members. But please rest assured that all of the suggestions falling within the Council's jurisdiction have been conveyed to the Urban Services Department for consideration and where appropriate, follow-up action by the relevant Select Committees. As regards speeches touching on matters outside the Council's ambit, according to the usual practice, the Secretary of the Council has forwarded copies to the Chief Secretary for consideration.
Major Developments in the Past Year
Let me first start by highlighting a number of significant developments achieved by the Council in the past year. Through the hard work of this Council with the support of the Department, there have been improvements and expansions in almost every sphere of the Council activities.
Environmental Hygiene
On environmental hygiene:
(a) simplified licensing procedures and a system of issuing provisional restaurant licences were introduced;
(b) two more markets (Causeway Bay Market and Pei Ho Street Complex) were opened; and
(c) since the commencement of the refurbishment programme in 1991, 68 public toilets have been upgraded at a total cost of $90 million.
Leisure Services
In the field of leisure services:
(a) a number of projects were completed including Cornwall Street Park, Fung Tak Park and three indoor games halls in the Western Park, Hung Hom and Pei Ho Street;
(b) following shark attacks at the Sai Kung beaches, the Council has immediately extended opening hours of its swimming pools and decided to install shark nets at 11 most popular beaches in Hong Kong Island, to be in place before the start of the 1996 swimming season;
(c) the Greening Hong Kong Campaign has continued its momentum in planting more trees and shrubs at Council's venues and making the public more green conscious;
(d) the computerised booking system for leisure services, launched by stages in 10 District Offices since October 1995, provides cross-district
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Page 412 of 485