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PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
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off the lights to force the spectators to leave the stadium, leaving no room for reasoning at all.
I need only to quote a few examples. I hope Members will be patient enough to listen to me. After I have studied the Consultation Report with meticulous care in the past few days, I have discovered that the Government's consultation and stance are absolutely based on and formed by those parts extracted out of context from the so-called verbal and written submissions which conform with its views. Allow me to quote a few examples so that you may share my perspective.
Throughout the consultation, the Government time and again made it clear that it was not forcing the Councils out of existence on the pretext of the chicken issue. The Vice-chairman of the Council commented a long time ago that the Government was forcing the Councils out of existence on the pretext of the chicken issue. While the Government from the outset expressed on every occasion that it was not dissolving the Councils because of the avian flu, paragraph 4 at the very beginning of the Consultation Report says,
as a result of the `Avian Flu' and other health incidents which brought the problems into sharp focus."
From the very beginning municipal services are cited. Who is responsible for municipal services? It is none other than the Municipal Councils. From the outset, the Report links up the avian flu and health incidents which the public are concerned about with the Municipal Councils in a bid to give the public the impression that the Municipal Councils are inefficient and poor in performance.
As for public views, it is time and again stressed that public consensus favours the placing of food safety and environmental hygiene under the central government while there are diverse views on the future structure of district organizations. It is stated in paragraph 1.8 of 'Major Findings' on page 3 that,
.... the majority favoured the Government assuming direct responsibility for the relevant functions (i.e. environmental hygiene and food safety). However, views were divided on the need to retain the Provisional Municipal Councils.'
Paragraph 2.6 on page 8 of the Consultation Report gives the following findings from 1,660-odd copies of questionnaire, the majority of which were printed and collected by the Constitutional Affairs Bureau:
The majority of the respondents supported the proposal for the Government to assume direct responsibility for food safety and environmental hygiene, while views on the future structure of district organizations were again diverse."
Again, the remark of views are diverse is harped on. When I flipped through Annex A to check the contents of the questionnaire, I found that
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