PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
Legislative Council. But I would like to remind the public that should there be no Municipal Councils, we can foresee that there will not be any direct supervision of the officials of the municipal services departments. In that scenario, the provision of municipal services in future will only depend on the will of the Government officials.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to add two more points before I conclude. Of the recent discussion concerning whether there is a need to extend the opening hours of museums, what we should ask perhaps, is whether the request for extension of opening hours can be expedited when members of the Tung's family are going to visit the museum. Moreover, what the final designs of the Council's facilities would be like will depend on the preferences of the bureaucrats. I do not want to see what has been done to alleviate the hardships of the people like reduction of market rents and licence fees will become a thing of the past. In view of the above, Mr. Chairman, I hope we will not only consider the "One Municipal Council and One Municipal Services Department" structure, but also the relation between the Council and the Department. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
MS. ADA WONG YING-KAY (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman,
We all are aware that today's debate has its historic meaning. On the same day last year, we spoke light-heartedly on our expectations after the reunification. But today, everyone is heavy-hearted, because whichever model is ultimately adopted, we will inevitably see the Provisional Urban Council come to its end.
Time passes quickly. I have already served the Council for 4 years. In the past three Annual Conventional Debates, I had raised some soul-searching questions. When I re-read the past three speeches today, I find that these problems are still there. So I bring them up again for us to reflect on.
In January 1996, I put to the Council this question: 'The Statement of Aims that we are to endorse today is in fact very vague, wide-ranging and a mere formality. Moreover, it is not resource-based. Why is there a need to consider these Statements every year?' I further asked: 'In name, we are the policy-makers, but why does the Department have such wide discretionary power to decide on how certain policies should be implemented?' In 1997, I asked again: 'Do the Statements of Aims approved have any real effects on the Council's operation and do they help in any way in monitoring the allocation of resources?' The answer is in the negative. These Statements were left on the shelf immediately, pending retrieval the next year. Failure to follow up is our Achilles heel. The papers are presented by the Department; we have no control over when they are presented and how much information we are given. But after this year, these Statements will become historical documents to be kept in the archives. Given the above, Mr. Chairman, I will not support the Statement of Aims as I have not supported it in previous years.