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HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
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food licence. If we can provide a pre-vetting system, it will be more convenient to food operators in respect of identifying a suitable premises and in some other areas. As a result, they will not find their shops totally unsuitable for operation after they start the business. Of course, it does not mean that an application going through the pre-vetting process will definitely get the approval for operation. It is just that during the pre-vetting process, the applicant can be informed of what requirements he should fulfil to gain a better chance for getting a licence for his premises. Such a system can minimize the cases of some operators being prosecuted repeatedly just for choosing a wrong premises. Besides, it can greatly speed up the licensing time of food premises. With these remarks on the above two issues, I support today's motion.
MR. STANLEY NG WING-FAT (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, just now, two of our colleagues of the Democratic Party, namely, Mr. Szeto Wah and Mr. Lai Hok-lim, addressed the development of the political system and matters pertaining to museums and historical attitudes respectively. Since I am by profession related to capital works, I shall first focus my discussion on my views regarding urban service projects and land development.
It may have come to your attention that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has proposed the construction of 85,000 residential units per year and formulated a five-year programme on land supply. The Government will allocate land for the Housing Authority's housing development or provide land, in the form of auctions, for private developers to operate. At our recent meetings, we came to know that the Government would, through the Town Planning Board, propose that the open space for each person be increased from 1.5 square metres to 2 square metres. Yet very unfortunately, that is nothing more than an index for improvement. While there is a five-year programme for the construction of residential units, the Government does not have a similar programme on land supply for the construction of Urban Council's parks and recreational facilities. From this, one realises where the Government's priorities lie.
We must have noticed that on 1 January, 1998, the Environmental Protection Department amended Hong Kong's air pollution index. The reason behind the amendment was that many people (including me, of course) often criticised the serious air pollution in urban districts in Hong Kong. The Environmental Protection Department's previous index, however, merely indicated that air quality was good on most days in a year. Regrettably, the Environmental Protection Department finally accepted the reality of having to subdivide the so-called good index into two classifications, that is, truly good and adverse. The improvement in the Environmental Protection Department's air quality index has actually helped us to consider land supply from the perspective of the Urban Services Department and the Urban Council, for we all know that many pieces of land on the roadside that are subject to serious
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