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of the urban areas managed by other government departments. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Jennifer Chow Kit-bing (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I would first of all indicate my support of the motion,
As Hong Kong develops, the number of immigrants continues to grow and the living conditions keep changing. It is a great irony that in such a developed society as Hong Kong, there should be incidents in which rats go on the rampage and people are bitten by them. I have heard a lot of friends and even visitors from the Mainland criticizing that the streets in Hong Kong are getting dirtier and the rats are getting bigger. As far as this is concerned, I consider that apart from pest control, there are in fact some practical and feasible ways which we can consider. For example, the sand bricks we are now using for road surfacing are actually favourable breeding grounds for rats. They also wear and tear easily, resulting in subsidence of the road surface. The use of sand bricks should therefore be reviewed and improved as early as possible.
The second point is about the frequency and focus of street-cleaning. The problem of refuse removal in commercial and residential areas, especially in places where food premises cluster, should be seriously addressed. In the past, we received many complaints about the disposal of leftover in the parks. For example, more and more people picnic in the Victoria Park and if the problem of leftover is not properly addressed and handled promptly, the problem of rats will arise. In view of all these, today's motion is very timely in that it has brought out the above questions. It is also hoped that the Department will in due course take action on and study the views raised by Members. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Benedict Lee Shui-sing (in Cantonese):--I support Mr. To's motion.
Just now several Members discussed in detail the ways to help exterminating rats. I wish to add two points.
The first point is that we discover that the rodent problem in the back alleys of food premises is very serious. A lot of food premises dispose of their rubbish or leftover in the back alleys, providing a breeding ground for rats. I wish to cite a complaint made by a resident. As this was what happened in some of the back alleys in the Jordan Road district. I reported to the Department and they indicated that they had already done something. However, I told them we were there and found that the problem was very serious. After the Department had followed up on the case, we discovered that there was significant improvement. They made efforts in several ways, such as advising the food premises to handle the food properly and stepping up the cleaning services for the back alleys. It can therefore be seen that for some black spots which are the breeding grounds for pests, if we see to it the Department fulfils its duties, it will bring
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