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and Sunday? There is absolutely such a need and there is no harm in providing more because this is better than taking prosecution action.
MR. RONNIE WONG MAN-CHIU (in Cantonese):-Yes, thanks for MS. TING'S suggestion. We will discuss this in the Recreation Select Committee and refer it to the Council for follow-up.
MS. JENNIFER CHOW KIT-BING (in Cantonese):-I want to follow up on the alarming amount of refuse mentioned in the written reply. I wonder how many refuse collection vehicles the amount of refuse mentioned is equivalent to. Has the Department compiled any statistics on the prevailing amount of refuse? Is it increasing every year and what is the increase? Is the type of refuse wet or dry? And, it seems no prosecution action was taken at all. Is there any way to strengthen the deterrent effect of prosecution? The last point. Can the park be cleaned earlier, because a lot of complaints are about the refuse not being cleared in time for Monday mornings, thereby causing a lot of nuisance to people who go there for morning exercises? Can the cleansing time be advanced a bit?
MR. RONNIE WONG MAN-CHIU (in Cantonese):-Thanks for Ms. CHOW's views. For the daily amount of refuse of 9 000 kg, only a few refuse collection vehicles are actually needed because each vehicle can carry several tonnes of refuse and 9 000 kg is equivalent to 9 tonnes.
As to whether it is mostly wet refuse or dry refuse, I can tell Ms. CHOW that the refuse in the Victoria Park is mostly dry refuse and therefore, the environmental nuisance arising from cleaning is less serious than that in the markets or other RCPs.
As to the last question, could Ms. CHOW please repeat it?
MS. Jennifer Chow Kit-bing (in Cantonese):—The last question is about the time required for cleaning the park. Can workers be sent earlier to do the cleaning after public holidays?
MR. RONNIE WONG MAN-CHIU (in Cantonese):-As stated clearly in my written reply, the Department begins its refuse collection beats in the evening on Sundays and public holidays and in early morning the next day. I consider that this issue should be referred to the Department for action because it is only they who know exactly the time required for clearing the refuse and the number of additional cleansing workers that should be deployed.
MR. WU CHI-WAI asked (in Cantonese):—'In connection with the Hawker Permitted Places, I wish to ask the following questions:
(a) Do all the Hawker Permitted Places currently managed by the Council have “yellow boxes" regions? If not, what are the reasons?
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