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arrange distribution outside the venues before they come in. This will be taken as an exception.
MR. SZETO WAH (in Cantonese):- Mr. Chairman, I know that for years whenever schools hire the Urban Council venues for athletic meets or games days, there are often beverage manufacturers offering free beverage to the schools for distribution to students. All along, the food kiosks charge the school hiring the venue a certain amount of money per drink distributed and this is entirely based on the Urban Council's notification. What if the school distributes the drinks to the students before they go in or sets up a stall outside the venue for the distribution while the sports event is being held?
MR. RONNIE WONG Man-chiu (in Cantonese):- I have already answered this question. One can of course make use of the legal loophole with such tricks but if one does this, the Council will face some sort of difficulty in inviting open tenders for the services concerned. If Members consider that the policy of forbidding organizations or schools to distribute food and drinks within the venues calls for a review, I will be most happy to bring this back to the Recreation Select Committee for discussion and if there is a need for revision, the relevant term will be amended in future contracts.
MR. WU Chi-wai (in Cantonese):- Just now the Chairman of the Select Committee said that the issue could be taken back to the Select Committee for a review. The problem is that in most cases, it is not possible for the food kiosks in the Council's venues to stop the general public from drinking and having food of their own. The only ones that can be stopped are organizations and it is obvious that staff of the Department clearly know from the applications the purpose of the organization in hiring the venue. I too do not want to see staff of the Department allowing these organizations to carry out commercial activities in these venues. However, as MR. SZETO Wah said and according to the complaints I have received, the problem these organizations are faced with is that in spite of the poor quality of the food and beverage provided by the food kiosks, they are being restricted by the Council in that no choices other than the food kiosks are allowed. This is exactly where the question lies. We have not been able to apply effective monitoring measures to the food kiosks. In other words, the market is still the most effective monitoring tool. The food kiosks should be made to face the challenges of other catering bodies. If the food provided by the food kiosks is of good quality and reasonable prices, I don't see why the organizations should patronize outside food-suppliers instead of the food kiosks. This is exactly the cause of the problem. Our existing franchising system has prevented us or the organizations from monitoring the quality of the food provided by the food kiosks.