complaint, the Director confirmed that the village houses in Tsui Keng Village were not provided with proper sewerage and sullage water
discharged did cause an
environmental nuisance. He had brought the matter to the attention of the North District Management Committee. As a result, at a meeting of the Management Committee, it was resolved that District Officer (North) would carry out improvement works with funds under his control. The works were completed in March 1985.
Regarding the lack of adequate street lighting, the District Officer (North) stated that staff of his office had carried out a thorough investigation and found the complaint justified. To remedy the situation, a joint site visit by staff of District Office (North), District Lands Office (North), the Engineering Development Department and the China Light and Power Co. was conducted and locations of lighting points were confirmed on site. The street lights were subsequently installed in August 1985.
Appeal for Renewal of Public Omnibus Licences (C 2736/84) An omnibus owner appealed to UMELCO for the renewal of the licences for his four public omnibuses.
In appealing to UMELCO, the appellant explained that for the renewal of motor vehicle licences, owners were required to have their vehicles examined at a Motor Vehicle Examination Centre in accordance with the Road Traffic Ordinance, Cap. 374 and to obtain copies of a Motor Vehicle Certificate of Roadworthiness. In previous years, public omnibus owners were required to make appointments for annual vehicle examination within four months of the expiry of their licences. However, as appointments for examination at a date earlier than four months before expiry were not accepted, renewal of the licences would be delayed if the vehicles were not re-examined on time. To avoid such delays, a notice was displayed at Motor Vehicle Examination Centres inviting vehicle owners to make bookings for examination as early as possible. In response to this, the appellant applied to the Centre for his omnibuses to be examined five months before the expiry date of his omnibuses. All four of his buses duly passed the examination. However, his subsequent
application for the renewal of their licences was refused by Transport Department, because the vehicles were not examined within four months of the expiry dates of their licences.
The case was taken up with the Commissioner for Transport who considered that the complaint was justified. He admitted that the notice displayed at the Motor Vehicle Examination Centre contained a message which might have led some vehicle owners to believe that certificates issued more than four months before the expiry of their vehicle licences would be valid for licence renewal purposes. The Commissioner stated that steps had been taken to amend the notice to make it clear that the Motor Vehicle Certificates of Roadworthiness were only accepted for re-licensing purposes if issued within four months of the expiry date, but that appointments for annual vehicle inspections might be made up to one year in advance.
As an exceptional case, the Commissioner agreed to renew the licences of the complainant's vehicles.
Complaint about Delay in Processing Application for Disability Allowance (C 263/85)
A member of the public complained to UMELCO about the delay in processing the application of his late father for a disability allowance. He stated that in early March 1984 his father was recommended by a doctor of a subvented hospital for the grant of disability allowance. His application was referred to the relevant social security field unit for processing. After receipt of the application, the Social Welfare Department on 1.4.84 terminated the monthly old age allowance which his father had been receiving since 1978. This would have been in order had a disability allowance been granted in its place. However, despite repeated requests by the applicant to expedite the processing of his application, no disability allowance was granted. The applicant subsequently died in September 1984. When the son reported this to the social security field unit in November 1984, he was advised by the staff that since the applicant had died, the application would not be further processed.
The complainant was dissatisfied with the prolonged delay in processing of his late-father's application.
He claimed that the delay had caused financial difficulty to his father before he died. He therefore enquired whether the disability allowance to which his father would have been entitled before his death could be paid to the estate of the deceased.
The complaint was taken up with the Director of Social Welfare. Following investigation, the Director advised that at the time when the complainant's father submitted the application, the computerisation of social security payments was being introduced. A large number of social security cases had to be converted from the manual system to the computer system and as a result there had been a delay in dealing with the application. The Director apologised for the delay and agreed to pay to the estate of the deceased the amount of disability allowance to which his father would have been entitled.
The Director also assured UMELCO that measures had been taken to speed up the processing of all other cases. These included a review of the computer programme with a view to streamlining the payment procedures.
Appeal for Inclusion of Workshop in Government Clearance (C 490/85) The operator of a welding workshop at Lei Yue Mun Road appealed to UMELCO for his workshop to be included in the Government clearance operation to allow minor improvements to Lei Yue Mun Road. The Government project required only the open space adjoining the workshop structure, while the operator's workshop and staff quarters were not included.
In appealing to UMELCO, the operator stated that the clearance of the open area would render it impossible for him to carry on his metal welding operation. Moreover, after the clearance, the supply of electricity to his workshop and staff quarters would be discontinued. He therefore appealed for his workshop and staff quarters to be included in the clearance so that he would be eligible for an ex-gratia allowance and his workmen would be rehoused according to clearance policy.
The appeal was taken up with the Director of Lands and the Director of Housing. After reconsideration and in view of the genuine difficulties confronting the appellant, the Director of Lands agreed to extend the
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