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HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
conventional debates each year in connection with the municipal facilities required by the Eastern District. Examples are the provision of children's play rooms in UC complexes which I proposed in the early years, the proposal to construct a sports ground in Siu Sai Wan, the redevelopment of the Causeway Bay Market and the addition of an indoor swimming pool in the leisure centre at Lei King Wan. All these proposals were accepted by the Council. Some of the facilities are under construction while some are now in service. I am very pleased with these, in particular, the proposal to build a UC complex in Shau Kei Wan District which I have been striving for at the annual conventional debates in the past eight years. In this respect, the proposal to build a UC complex at the Aldrich Bay Reclamation was recently endorsed by the Select Committee concerned. This shows that the Council is ready to accept good advice and such attitude is praiseworthy. It is my hope that other municipal facilities in the Eastern District could be completed as scheduled so that residents of the District could enjoy the better services provided.
As the Year of the Tiger is drawing near, it is my wish that the present local economic slump would come to an end and a year of prosperity as mighty as the tiger would set in. Besides, the SAR Government would try to revitalize the local economy as soon as possible so that the general public could live and work in peace and contentment as before.
Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR. SAN STEPHEN WONG HON-CHING (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I have been carefully listening to every sentence of your speech just now. With regard to the issues on public health that you mentioned, I also had a few words to say. I found that the meetings of Urban Council have devoted a lot of time to the discussion of health issues since last year. From your speech, we see that there has been wide media coverage on subjects related to us, including the mad cow disease, O157:H7 virus, escherichia coli, cholera, Listeria monocytogenes, pesticide-contaminated vegetables and the recent H5N1 bird flu virus. Such an intensive media interest shows the importance of food hygiene to health. The speech I am going to make is also related to this area and the H5N1 virus in particular.
Since the discovery of H5N1 virus in Hong Kong in mid-1997 which is the first H5N1 case found in the world, the bird influenza has drawn both local and global interests. As evidence shows that the H5N1 virus found in human bodies is likely to be transmitted from birds, the Government conducted a slaughter exercise on 29 December killing 1.3 to 1.4 million chickens found in the territory with a view to eradicating the chicken-carried virus at its source. I have a few comments to make about this massive chicken slaughter exercise. For the sake of preventing the virus from spreading, the exercise is worth supporting. However, the disposal of chicken carcasses by way of burying in landfill sites is open to discussion. Lastly, the arrangement and emergency.