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When we co-operate with the Police, we do not set off with them together. We need to notify them beforehand of our actions so that they can stand by and respond to our call for support. We only call the Police for reinforcement when there is confrontation. So, as you just said, when something happened, the Police were not at the scene. They came afterwards. I trust that clarifies the situation for Mr. Chan.
As to the first question, I have already given a clear reply in my reply document. Hawker control duties were officially handed over from the Police to the Urban Council in 1936. Therefore, after 1936, hawker control became a function of the Urban Council. This is very clear. On your point about disciplinary nature, the disciplinary force was set up under the Urban Services Department, not the Police Force. Even at the time when the teams were of a disciplinary nature, we co-operated with the Police. We were never directly under the command of the Police. So, the principle was to co-operate with the Police. However, co-operation could have been closer in the early days because of the force's disciplinary nature. Co-ordination could be quicker. On becoming a clerical grade, the mode of co-operation changed with the progress of time and co-ordination had to be made via many levels. As I said in my reply document, liaison at the headquarters and regional levels was stepped up. Of course, if Members feel that we need to review this aspect of co-operation, we shall be happy to follow up. In fact, the Markets and Street Traders Select Committee has always felt concern about this. We are concerned about better co-operation with the Police and better enforcement work. The Select Committee will follow up on this so as to do better in our enforcement actions. These points will be further discussed at the meetings of the Markets and Street Traders Select Committee.
Mr. Chan Choi-hi (in Cantonese):—From the reply given today, it can be seen that hawker control work is fundamentally the responsibility of this Council and the Department. When I was leafing through page 10 of the 1996 Hong Kong Annual Report about hawker management by the Urban Council, there was a sentence as follows: "The Urban Council is the management authority of hawkers and market traders. As the Council did not have sufficient manpower and resources to shoulder this responsibility solely, part of the function was transferred to the Police." I would like to ask the Vice-Chairman how he understands this. Should we perhaps request a revision to this 1996 Hong Kong Annual Report? Basically, hawker management is our job. I can see that the Police take a passive role in this kind of work and that we are supposed to take an active role. That is the first question.
My second question concerns whether we can co-operate with the Police in handling more serious matters at hawker blackspots such as triad infiltration. In meetings of the Markets and Street Traders Select Committee, we can discuss better co-ordination. Perhaps we can send out people under cover or solve the matter by throwing out some long-term work.
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Mr. IP Kwok-him (in Cantonese):—Mr. CHAN asked if the Annual Report should be revised. I think the authorities should pay attention to this point and put things down more clearly. As to why it was written that way, it is now history and we are just talking about matters left by history. In 1936, hawker management was transferred from the Police to this Council. As we have far fewer enforcement officers than the Police, in the past, we relied more on police support. As far as I remember, some three or four years ago, the Police were still responsible for hawker enforcement activities in major roads and they went out together with USD staff. After the enforcement activities, the chores that remained, such as moving court evidence into trucks, were taken up by our Department staff. However, for certain work, we still looked to the Police for support. So, in the Annual Report, it was mentioned that we still relied on the Police for some parts of our work. Three years ago, the Police made statements time and again that it was not their job to manage hawkers and they asked to stand off completely. So, I can tell Mr. CHAN that at present, all hawker management work is under the responsibility of this Council. In fact, in the last three years, the establishment of GDT continued to grow.
As for triad infiltration and asking for Police co-operation, I can tell Mr. CHAN that we did join the Police in actions in this direction. For example, in Sham Shui Po area two years ago, Police officers posed as GDT staff to carry out anti-triad control activities. I cannot tell you here how Police officers went under cover because it involved law enforcement officers. However, I can tell Mr. CHAN that the Police have close contacts with the Department in tackling triad control of hawking activities.
MR. AMBROSE CHEUNG WING-SUM (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, the reply document confirmed that hawker management should be the responsibility of the Urban Council and stated the need for close co-operation and regular review with the Police. It also stated that the new grade was set up in 1994. The question remains that the effects of illegal hawker management are still not up to the demands of the Council and the general public. My follow-up question concerns how to do our part well. We can see that the new grade since 1994, the two-shift system, and the task force together cannot put the illegal hawkers under control. At hawker blackspots, the two-shift system and the task force are unable to deal with the popular hawking time at the change of shift and between shifts.
We suggest adopting a three-shift system and making skilful arrangements at the change of shifts. This way, there will be staff from two shifts on hand at certain hours. We have been discussing this three-shift system for a long time. I wonder if there is any concrete conclusion. If not, what is going to happen to our follow-up actions? Shall we follow up and realize this proposal at the Markets and Street Traders Select Committee?
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