indeed, there are various departments of the Hong Kong Government which also take part in such matters, and therefore, they do not have the complete powers of a government.
Some people hold that local government should be set in contrast to central government. This is correct. But they hold that local government should be responsible for the deciding and carrying out of policies on very specific and detailed local affairs matters such as environmental improvement. It must be said that such tasks are only a part of local affairs and must be distinguished from the kind of overall responsibilities for the administration of affairs that would belong to a local government.
In accordance with the above circumstances, the Basic Law has not laid down whether the district organizations should be local governments or local administrative organs. Article 59 has already clearly laid down that the Government of the Hong Kong SAR is the administrative organ of the Hong Kong SAR and therefore, the district organizations must be organized in a non-governmental way. Nevermind what changes may occur to district organizations after 1997, whether they preserve the present 3-tier system or a changed into a 2-tier system or whether the 3-tier system is reorganized, nonetheless, all the district organizations will be non-governmental in nature and that means that the future Hong Kong SAR will have only one level of government and one level of Government power. During the course of the consultation on the draft of the Basic Law, members of the Drafting Committee for the Basic Law put forward this view that "if the 3-tier systemis maintainend then the District Boards should be local advisory organs". This provision is of value towards raising the effectiveness of the post-1997 Hong Kong SAR Government, restricting its expenditures and at the same time making it able to listen to the opinions of various circles in Hong Kong.
II.
The method of organization of the District Organizations and their powers
The Urban Council at present consists of 40 members of whom 15 have been elected from geographical constituencies, 15 appointed by the Governor, as representatives from Urban district Boards. Article 98 of the Basic Law has no specific provisions concerning the method of organization and powers of District Organizations which will be laid down in laws by the Hong Kong SAR after 1997. This means that this can be decided on its own by the Hong Kong SAR in accordance with the actual circumstances and is relatively appropriate. Some people hold that it was too simple just to have two articles concerning District Organizations. In fact, these provisions are comparatively flexible and are of value in maintaining the stability and prosperity of the Hong Kong SAR.
In accordance with the "Regulations of the Urban Council", the powers of the Urban Council are to provide cultural, recreational, environmental and health services including street cleaning, the collection of rubbish, the management of small traders, the issue of trade marks, the management of environmental health, the guaranteeing of appropriate health standards in restaurants, shops, abattoirs and all other places dealing with food, the
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