HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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problem and are starting to reform. Mr. Lai Hok-lim said that expecting them to improve would be like 'pigs climbing trees'. Let me tell Mr. Lai that 'the pigs are climbing trees slowly'. I have here a Newsletter of the Estate Management Advisory Committee of Upper Wong Tai Sin Estate. I have been following their progress. The Newsletter contained information about the steps taken by members of the Mutual Aid Committees, local groups and the relevant District Board in solving the problems. The pigs need time to climb up trees. Don't expect the pigs to reach the top in one go. Things are improving. Shouldn't we get together the opinions of Mutual Aid Committee members and District Board Members? Shouldn't we cooperate with District Board Members in sincerity so as to manage district matters well? In fact, there is mention of this in all editions of the Newsletter. Let me quote a paragraph: ‘As regards improvements to cleanliness in estates, the contractors concerned have agreed to follow up. Clearing of rubbish piled up in the corridors during the Lunar New Year period was effective. There will be more follow-up work.'
I can see that estates are striving to improve instead of leaving things as they are. If there are individual estates not taking action to improve, we should use the trump card of the Urban Council and prosecute them. We should step up patrols and prosecutions in carrying out the duty of the Council. I therefore support the proposed amendment to leave classification work to the Housing Authority, Housing Department or the Estate Management Advisory Committees. Perhaps by publicizing the results of the classification, we can achieve the desired results. I support this.
MR. LEE KWOK-KEUNG (in Cantonese):—I think I have the right of speech concerning cleanliness and environmental hygiene in public estates. I have lived in such estates for more than 30 years.
As someone who grew up in an estate, I can see that the present situation is one of improvement compared to 20 years ago. Recently, on becoming a Council Member, I took note of the situation in Fung Tak Estate of which I am the representative. In a recent survey on cleanliness, Fung Tak was classified as poor. There is an Estate Management Advisory Committee in Fung Tak and I am both the district's District Board Member and an Urban Councillor. We very often wanted the Housing Department to take effective actions in improving environmental hygiene. Basically, at each meeting of the Estate Management Advisory Committee, I took up areas for improvement with the cleaning company concerned. For a period of time after each instance, there was improvement, but two or three weeks later when a new batch of cleaning staff had taken over (such changes were often reported), the old situation repeated. Things went on in sort of a vicious cycle and I have been repeating the same things at meetings of the Committee. I find that as an Urban Councillor and a District Board Member, I am helpless in this regard.
The fundamental spirit of both the original and the amended motions is the same. As to which party is the best assessor, I still feel that the job should be
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