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PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
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Council knew clearly about the whole truth, I want to take this opportunity to clarify matters for members of the public.
In the entire process of this incident, the Urban Council and the Urban Services Department played a supporting role. The import of chicken, clearing away of chicken carcasses, management of the Poultry Wholesale Market and compensation paid to poultry stalls were all the responsibility of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department under the Economic Services Bureau. As for members of the public infected with avian flu, the job was in the hands of the Health and Welfare Bureau and the Department of Health under its supervision.
You may ask what kind of role the two Municipal Councils took up. The answer is to continue to maintain cleanliness of markets under the Council and to bring in improvements to our systems.
As for other hygiene incidents like Listeria infection in ice-cream, Cholera infection in bloody clams, Ciguatoxin in ocean fish etc, the responsibility fell squarely on the Department of Health.
Mr. Joseph CHAN indicated just now that the Consultation Document did not reflect government dictatorship. Yes, there is a Consultation Document, but are the above issues mentioned in it at all? Is government responsibility mentioned anywhere in it? The answer is no. The Document emphatically quotes reasons for concern which are arbitrary and jumps to the conclusion on the need to abolish the Municipal Councils. It then tells us clearly that power should be recalled to central. As elected members of the Council, we have met with such irresponsible and responsibility-shifting style over and over again in the last three or four years. It is mean for government to shift responsibility for mistakes on to elected councils. I feel the wording used in the motion should not be ‘regret' but ‘condemnation' instead.
In this matter, government has sought to confuse the public and use avian flu as a means to scrap the Municipal Councils. The Chief Secretary admitted clearly that government departments had made mistakes. Why then did the Secretary for Constitutional Affairs say on radio last week that the two Municipal Councils would have to be scrapped? What is the justification? If there are problems with monitoring by an elected set-up, I don't see that centralising powers can help. What could a set-up sort of like the Housing Authority with appointed elements do?
Some time ago, TVB made a special programme to do with scrapping of the Municipal Councils. There is footage which clearly shows the state of cleanliness at a market under the management of the Housing Authority. It is much worse than markets managed by us. If centralising power and putting a government-appointed set-up in the monitoring role can solve all problems, why is the Housing Authority the body with most complaints from the public? I call on government to search itself on the basis of actual circumstances in the past and find out to whom responsibility should be affixed. If government is
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