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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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We should bear in mind that the Urban Council should face up to the people of Hong Kong and depend on the people of Hong Kong. As a responsible elected Council, we should continue to act as the coordinator in the issuance process of restaurant licences. We should give more convenience to applicants, do away with the bureaucratic approach, get to the gist of the matter, call for additional manpower for the BD to handle and scrutinize applications for restaurant licences. Those are ways to speed up the process and solve the problem. I have spoken against the motion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
MR. CHRISTOPHER CHUNG SHU-KUN (in Cantonese): I second Mr. SUEN's motion because our practice at present is to help other government departments with their work and many problems that come up are not the fault of the USD or UC, but other departments. The merit of this motion is that it will increase transparency and let applicants know which department is causing delay. In doing so, the department concerned will have to answer to the public. In the past, government departments which wanted to shift responsibility or dragged on cases could do so as they only had to deal with USD staff; they did not have to stand up and be accountable to the public. I don't think this kind of proposed arrangement is retrogressive. An applicant will have to go to two more places, i.e. BD and FSD, but the preparations will not be in any way different. On the part of the USD, a lot of procedures will be saved and there will even be a cut on unnecessary expenditure. Under present processing procedures, expenditure is incurred in sending letters, giving notifications and performing clerical duties. If our work can contribute to speeding up the process effectively, we don't mind, but very often, our colleagues found that matters have dragged on for 1, 2 or even 3 years. Under the circumstances, we should let everyone know where the problem lies. If we refuse to admit the wrong in our past practice, we cannot improve. It is in fact important for a modern government to have transparency and to let the public know what really is happening. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, I think Mr. CHAN Kwok-leung is correct. I am not a member of the Democratic Party, but this time I support their viewpoint. I am addressing the matter as it is. Mr. CHAN is right that, at present, we are carrying out improvement measures by issuing provisional licences to be reviewed after 6 months. Provisional licences are issued with three government departments in cooperation, not separately. Before, a longer period of time was required when different departments processed the case separately. If we amend the ordinance and revert to each processing the case on its own, an even longer period of time would be required. Now that the 3 departments cooperate and coordinate in processing cases, the situation has improved. At present, the arrangement of issuing provisional licences will be reviewed in 6 months time. We should consider whether it is an improvement. If it is, then there should not be any need to amend the bylaws. Mr. Chairman, in fact I have doubts on whether we have
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