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# HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
## ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
Chairman (in Cantonese):—I now call the meeting to order.
## I.
### CONFIRMATION OF THE MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 14 AND 16 JANUARY 1997
The minutes of meeting held on 14 and 16 January 1997 were confirmed.
## II. PAPER LAID
The following paper was laid—Report to the Urban Council by the Secretary, Urban Council, for the month of January 1997.
## III. QUESTIONS
(1) MR. LEE KWOK-KEUNG asked the following question:-‘According to press comments, the results of raiding operations mounted by the Urban Council hawker control squads at Ka Yip Street of Chai Wan in recent months were not 100 desirable. It is worthwhile to find out the reasons, and I wish to gain a better understanding of the current mode of operation of the hawker control squads, as follows:
(a) How many ‘raiding operations at Ka Yip Street of Chai Wan’ have been mounted by the hawker control squads in the recent six months? Were there any prosecutions and confiscation of goods? On how many occasions did the hawker control squads, on arrival at the sites, not see any illegal hawkers there?
(b) Please explain the method for planning operations and the measures adopted to prevent leakage of information.
(c) Whether any follow-up actions have been taken by the Department with regard to the above situation (e.g. internal investigation or referral to another department for investigation)? If yes, what are the results?’
MR. IP KWOK-chung, CHAIRMAN OF THE Markets and Street Traders SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:-This three-part question concerns press comment alleging unsatisfactory results of the raiding operations against illegal hawkers conducted in recent months by the Hawker Control Teams at Ka Yip Street, Chai Wan.
The first part of the question enquires about the enforcement statistics at Ka Yip Street.
In the past six months, the hawker control staff had carried out 58 raiding operations, resulting in 91 arrests of illegal hawkers and confiscation of their hawking paraphernalia and commodities. Out of these 58 raiding operations, 38 led to arrests and the other 20 operations ended up without any arrests but served as a deterrent because the hawkers speedily dispersed from the scene on sight of the hawker control staff.
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