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HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
Chairman of the Select Committee the breakdown of litter prosecutors at work? Mr. Chan said those authorized to do so include 1500 members of the Hawker Control Officer grade. How many members of this grade have taken out prosecutions? If you do not have that piece of information in hand, please give us the figures after the meeting. I just want to know which grade members have taken out prosecutions. Can you furnish details?
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I share the comment that prosecutions do not have sufficient deterrent effect. The maximum penalty for littering is a fine of $25,000 or 6 months' imprisonment. In fact, the courts have never sent a litter bug to prison and the maximum fine of $25,000 has never been meted out. On average, each case was fined $380. You can see how little deterrent effect it gives. The fines ranged from $300 to $500 and there were cases of fines of $50. Indeed, penalties should be handed down by the courts. We did return cases of 'serious offenders' to the courts because we saw on the computer that certain people committed the offence once, twice, thrice or more. The information was passed on to judges for heavier penalties, but the average amount of fines was around $380, not more than that.
On the question of whether we should have a specialized team to take out prosecutions, if Members feel this way, we may need to return to the old system of more than 10 years ago or maybe we should take a two-pronged approach of prosecution and publicity. If we suggest having a specialized team as prosecutors, the proposal has to be discussed at the Administration Select Committee. If we want to go along with this suggestion, we can bring it out at the meeting of the Public Health Select Committee for passing on to the Administration Select Committee and then asking the Department to restructure the staff establishment.
As to the grades of those who prosecuted litter offenders, Mr. Chairman, I do not have information in hand. I shall pass the information to Mr. Ip after the meeting.
MR. RONNIE WONG MAN-CHIU (in Cantonese):—I think we all agree that the streets of Singapore are much cleaner than ours. The USD has on many occasions sent teams over for studies. I understand that in Singapore, non-government people are authorized to prosecute people with no civic spirit. Can we consider or suggest appointing non-government people such as District Board or Area Committee Members to handle prosecutions?
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese):—We did distribute forms to District Board Members and fellow Members of the Council. Maybe I can remind the Department to distribute them to Council Members again so that they can carry out the commission. As to whether District Boards can be
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