PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
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will create job opportunities, reduce the number of applications for CSSA, and have considerable manpower resources which would have been deployed on controlling unlicensed hawkers?
I would like to put forward a proposal for creating job opportunities: granting the unemployed who are willing to be self-reliant a 6-month temporary permit to take up hawking in a temporary hawking area designated by the Government so as to temporarily solve the unemployment problem.
Eligibility Criteria:
They should be the unemployed who have been registered at the Labour Department and are the bread-winners in their families and have not been able to secure a job in the past 3 months.
Temporary Hawking Areas:
Five Temporary Hawking Areas should be set up on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and NT respectively. The sites selected should not cause obstruction to traffic and be far away from the urban markets so as to protect the business of the market stallholders. Such sites may be located in lanes or side streets and the goods for sale will mainly be dry ones to avoid fouling of streets.
I must reiterate that I am always against issuing licences to the unlicensed hawkers because unlicensed hawking will cause hygiene and traffic problems and this proposal is only an expedient measure to ease unemployment. The permit will be valid for 6 months and can be renewed for another 6 months upon expiry. There will be morning session and afternoon session permits because we do not want to encourage the unemployed to become full-time hawkers. And we hope that, apart from hawking, they can spare some time for seeking jobs. They are required to return the permit once they have secured a job.
I have contacted many hawkers in recent months, and I understand their feeling of "rather be fleeing hawkers than starve to death". They are reluctant to apply for CSSA from the Government because of self-respect. I believe that hawking can boost the economy during recession, and help those who prefer earning their own living. Besides, hawking has become a culture of Hong Kong. As the setting up of hawking area is only of a temporary nature, the Government should consider adopting this expedient measure so as to help the public tide over their hardship.
The proposal for setting up temporary hawking areas, in fact, reflects that Members can fully understand the feelings and wishes of the public. It is certainly we Members who can realize to the full how to make good use of the functions of a council. The Urban Council is the only body in Hong Kong with elected members and policy-making powers. As we are elected by and are
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