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Page 368 of 498
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
many of the urban housing estates are of old designs and the food premises are usually right below the housing units, the illegal extension of these premises in the evening will definitely cause serious nuisance to the residents upstairs.
Fourthly, we find that the management and design of certain estate refuse collection points (RCPs) are also not desirable. RCPs at some old estates are not provided with covers and their designs are not in the enclosed forms. It should be easy for us to imagine the situation where residents living in the vicinity of these RCPs have to put up with the nuisances caused by them year after year. Together with the improper management of these RCPs, the residents must be making complaints frequently such as complaining that the refuse bins in the RCPs are not covered.
Fifthly, I would also like to talk about the problem of rodent nuisance in the vicinity of food premises of the housing estates and along hillsides. The management of the commercial centres and food premises in the housing estates often attracts criticism from the residents. It is obvious that these food premises always leave behind a lot of residues in their food preparation process and after the sale of food, thereby attracting frequent visits by rodents. Besides, many estates are built on the hillsides where the environments are not well attended to and thus become the breeding beds of rodents, threatening the environmental health of the estates. Obviously, these are the major issues that require attention when we are dealing with the environmental health problems of housing estates. In my opinion, we should consider the following suggestions in order to solve these problems:
First of all, the Urban Services Department should step up its enforcement actions and seriously consider the possibility of prosecution. I suppose colleagues of the Council will remember that we have debated on the prosecution of these cases last year. I hope the Department will make a conscientious effort to carry out its work in this area. Secondly, the Department should take the initiative to convey our concerns to the Housing Department, offering them advice and support so that they will seriously tackle these problems and make improvement in this area. Thirdly, as what I pointed out at the last Annual Debate, in view that Estate Management Advisory Committees are gradually setting up in each housing estate, the Urban Services Department should actively request to be represented at the meetings of these Committees so as to urge the parties concerned to make improvement at early date. As far as I know, although the Urban Services Department is holding regular liaison meetings with the Housing Department, these meetings are only conducted at the departmental level. In my opinion, there are two things that must be taken into consideration in the coming year. Firstly, the Department should report the progress of these liaison meetings to the Council so that colleagues of the Council will be able to understand and monitor the situation. Secondly, we should carefully consider whether Members of the Council should also conduct liaison meetings with the Housing Authority or Housing Department so that we may have a better