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HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
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immediately with the Chairman of the Committee concerned, but instead, allows the media to expose the incident.
Fourth, they take advantage of the fact that you might not notice any omission. If you have discussed outlines of objectives before, the Committees concerned will know that many of the things that were discussed at the meetings were not recorded in the minutes. I am not sure if this is negligence on the secretary's part or the Department deliberately trying to make things difficult. If we do not read the minutes carefully, we will not know that some words have been deleted. That is why, with the consent of Members, we will, in future, include the relevant documents in the minutes of the last meeting for reference. This is because the Department often deliberately leaves out of the minutes certain matters which they think they are not capable of doing.
Fifth, bureaucracy is more serious in the Urban Services Department than in the Urban Council. Whenever we propose an overall review on any policy, the Department will say that the policy is already being reviewed and that an overall review is not necessary. Whenever we say that certain policies have to be reviewed immediately, they will tell us that this is not necessary at present and that an overall review can be carried out next time. As a result, the review on most of our policies has been delayed.
Sixth, when we discuss such matters as management, manpower and finance, the Department usually backs up its position with its own data, existing government regulations and the Civil Service Bureau. It is impossible for us to streamline its structure in order to come up with a more efficient and modern management system. Therefore, in my opinion, to improve the efficiency of the Urban Council and the Urban Services Department, we should employ the services of an independent management company to conduct a comprehensive review of the entire administrative and bureaucratic structures and the financial system.
It is my hope that the Urban Council and the Urban Services Department will function better in 1998. If we can really hire a management company, I am sure we can make this 'obese and overweight' Urban Services Department lose some weight.
MR. TAM KWOK-KIU (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman and Colleagues, today, I would like to express my views on the structure and system of district organisations in Hong Kong. In his policy address on the 8 October last year, the Chief Executive of the Special Administrative Region proposed the review of the structure and functions of district organisations, which presently comprise the Provisional Urban Council, the Provisional Regional Council, and the Provisional District Boards. The Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (HKADPL) has always been concerned about the functions and development of district organisations in Hong Kong, and we have participated actively in elections at all levels so as to serve the
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