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# HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
can see that they are already quite sound. The question is whether the clauses have been thoroughly and stringently implemented. I shall go into that later on.
To learn more about E-coli, I sought the advice of a UK expert on bacteriology. He said that O-157 H7 was powerful among 200-odd strains of E-coli because it could release toxic material to damage the kidney function of the human body. Damage to the kidney function would kill within a very short time. Fortunately, we do not have such a case to date in Hong Kong. I then pressed the expert for the length of time taken to complete test reports in the UK. He said clearly that a report would be ready in 24 hours. I have made a comparison of this information to the claim of the Department of Health that tests took 2 days to complete. In this respect, we are slow and there is room for improvement. I think the Department as well as the Department of Health should improve. At this juncture, we need to continue to publicise basic knowledge of food hygiene. The public must be told that using separate utensils for raw and cooked meat and cooking food thoroughly are the best preventive measures.
Today is in fact a very good time to improve our long-standing problem of food hygiene. The Urban Services Department has a set of adequate food hygiene standards as well as proper implementation methods. However, the way licensed and unlicensed hawkers handle food in our streets causes a headache. At times when we took up the law enforcement situation with the Department, we were given figures. For example, we have learnt that the Department has issued more than 10 summonses in three months. If you look carefully at the names of stall operators, you may find that certain people get a summons each month, making the figure quite impressive. However, if these people do not do away with their bad habits, summons will become a part of their operation cost and bad habits will never be broken. I must say that the situation in Hong Kong now is quite similar to that in third-world countries. Sometimes, I get the feeling that the media may have a good point. Let me quote one view. 'Even if the Urban Council and its Department can take this opportunity to improve undesirable social trends, it will not be an easy job. People in the food industry will find it hard to accept this too. However, if the authorities concerned do not take this opportunity when the public is still worried to go along with the general mood, an excellent opportunity would be lost for drastic changes to our food hygiene situation.' Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):—Does anyone else want to speak? If not, will Mr WONG Kwok-hing exercise his right of reply?
MR. WONG KWOK-HING (in Cantonese): I thank Members who spoke in support of my motion. I agree that the motion is rather wordy, but if I do not put it in a wordy way, I may not be able to include everything I want to express.