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Urban Council was helping it out with its cleansing work (and might be charged the parking fee). By deduction, if the Department helped owners of private streets out with their cleansing work, then should assistance in cleansing be also given to private areas within buildings? It is therefore necessary to lay down a policy whereby we would initiate a review of the need to provide cleansing services only to those streets which are used by the public.
The issue of ownership should be handled even more prudently. Legislation is already in place to ensure cleanliness of places (such as the alley at the back of a building or the area within certain feet from the entrance to a unit). If the law is more stringently enforced, the cleanliness of building alleys and entrances should be ensured, because the law has so provided for. It is hoped that the Department will provide information about the relevant ordinance at the next meeting so that we may confirm whether the ordinance is still in force.
MR. CHIANG SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):—I support Mr. WONG Kwok-hing's proposal that the Council should conduct an overall review aimed at providing municipal cleansing services for all the private streets in the urban area at an early date.
Similar examples can also be found in Kowloon City, although the number might not be as great as that on Hong Kong Island. Take Wu Kwong Street between Luen Shing Building and Lux Theatre Building for instance. It has been in a state of disrepair. I made a site visit recently and the Kowloon City District Board is also very concerned for the situation. There is also a 'refuse collection vehicle' like the one cited by Mr. WONG Kwok-hing. It has not been removed yet. I hope I can discuss with Mr. WONG the way to address the problem. I also wish to thank the departmental staff in Kowloon City for providing removal services every now and then, but there are often big pieces of junk such as the 'refuse collection vehicle', discarded furniture etc. Although the law has been invoked to demand the owners to have them removed, the owners have refused to do so. Under the circumstances, we could but wait for settlement through legal proceedings.
In summing up, Mr. Chairman, I consider that the cleanliness of private streets has a great bearing on Hong Kong's overall environmental hygiene, food safety, spread of contagious diseases, pest growth etc. In fact, cleansing services for both private streets and back alleys should be provided proactively and positively by the Department and Council. Specific measures should be implemented at an early date to solve the problem.
Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR. STANLEY NG WING-FAI (in Cantonese):—While I support the motion, I have to point out that actually most of the private streets (about 70%) are provided with municipal cleansing services. I know that Lee Tai Street in Tai Kok Tsui and some sections of Cheung Wong Road in Mong Kok fall
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