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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
On the occasion of the Ching Ming and Chung Yeung Festivals, the Police are even more considerate and limit the requirements to any reasonable evidence of identity e.g. regulation identity cards. Tram Tickets and other miscellaneous documents of the same nature are not considered to be sufficient evidence.
The Council did not make any precise public announcement to this effect in this or previous years. The Police however notified the Public through the Chinese Press on the 4th April of this year that it would not be necessary to obtain special permits but that it was advisable to bring identity cards. To avoid any misunderstanding in the future a public announcement will be issued to the press prior to these festivals."
DR. R. H. S. LEE asked the following question:—
"Is the Chairman aware of recent public complaints in the Press made about the insanitary conditions and other nuisances in respect to Kowloon City and Tsimshatsui Markets and its environment which had been the subject of questions from me in this Council some months ago? Why has no satisfactory action been taken to remedy these defects for so long?"
THE CHAIRMAN tabled the following written reply:—
“I should like in answering this question to go perhaps a little further than is strictly necessary in view of public interest in this matter. Conditions of congestion in the vicinity of not only Kowloon City and Tsimshatsui Markets but round practically all major markets are far from satisfactory. The reasons for this and proposals for alleviating the congestion are fully set out in the Hawker Report, paragraphs 11 - 23.
It is my opinion that nothing short of a major hawker operation will do anything noticeable to improve conditions in and round Kowloon City Market or round any of the other large urban markets. For the time being there can thus be no change in the status quo. The streets round Shamshuipo Market
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were a good deal worse than any area in Kowloon City and I have no reason to suppose that a large hawker operation would not be as successful in Kowloon City as it was in Shamshuipo. The eventual removal of the temporary fences in Nga Tsin Wai Road erected for the airport contractors will cut out the dust nuisance. In the meantime, the contractors are spraying the road five times a day on dry days. The removal of the fences, which is a matter outside Council control, will make more room to contain all the activities near the market but the root of the trouble is the disorderly manner in which hawkers trade.
As has been maintained in the Hawker Report and as Mr. Holmes said at the Council Meeting in February it is impossible to introduce and maintain proper hawker control with present resources. No alternative proposal for using our present resources to greater effect has yet been put forward. Until the Hawker Report is accepted by Government and the control staff recruited I can give no assurance that the hawker control arrangements now in force in the hawker demonstration areas mentioned in my reply to another question can be extended.
In approving the Hawker Report, Council may, I think, be taken to concur with this view and to have endorsed the proposals for dealing with these conditions. If any Member or Select Committee can suggest an alternative solution, I have no doubt that it would receive the full support of other Members."
DR. LEE: Is the Chairman aware and does he not agree that the removal of chicken crates and other miscellaneous items in the vicinity of Kowloon City Market will materially improve the sanitary conditions?
CHAIRMAN: I am sorry, I did not quite catch that question.
DR. LEE: Is the Chairman aware and does he not agree that the removal of chicken crates and other miscellaneous items in the vicinity of Kowloon City Market will materially improve the sanitation of these markets? I rise to ask this as a supplementary question.
Page 41 of 139
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Page 41 of 139
們
62
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
On the occasion of the Ching Ming and Chung Yeung Festivals, the Police are even more considerate and limit the requirements to any reasonable evidence of identity e.g. regulation identity cards. Tram Tickets and other miscellaneous documents of the Same nature are not considered to be sufficient evidence.
The Council did not make any precise public announce- ment to this effect in this or previous years. The Police however notified the Public through the Chinese Press on the 4th April of this year that it would not be necessary to obtain special permits but that it was advisable to bring identity cards. To avoid any misunderstanding in the future a public announcement will be issued to the press prior to these festivals."
DR. R. H. S. LEE asked the following question :—
"Is the Chairman aware of recent public complaints in the Press made about the insanitary conditions and other nuisances in respect to Kowloon City and Tsimshatsui Markets and its environment which had been the subject of questions from me in this Council some months ago? Why has no satisfactory action been taken to remedy these defects for so long?" THE CHAIRMAN tabled the following written reply:—
“I should like in answering this question to go perhaps a little further than is strictly necessary in view of public interest in this matter. Conditions of conges- tion in the vicinity of not only Kowloon City and Tsimshatsui Markets but round practically all major markets are far from satisfactory. The reasons for this and proposals for alleviating the conges- tion are fully set out in the Hawker Report, paragraphs 11 - 23.
It is my opinion that nothing short of a major hawker operation will do anything noticeable to improve conditions in and round Kowloon City Market or round any of the other large urban markets. For the time being there can thus be no change in the status quo. The streets round Shamshuipo Market
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
63
were a good deal worse than any area in Kowloon City and I have no reason to suppose that a large hawker operation would not be as successful in Kowloon City as it was in Shamshuipo. The eventual removal of the temporary fences in Nga Tsin Wai Road erected for the airport contractors will cut out the dust nuisance. In the meantime the contractors are spraying the road five times a day on dry days. The removal of the fences, which is a matter outside Council control, will make more room to contain all the activities near the market but the root of the trouble is the disorderly manner in which hawkers trade.
As has been maintained in the Hawker Report and as Mr. Holmes said at the Council Meeting in February it is impossible to introduce and maintain proper hawker control with present resources. No alter- native proposal for using our present resources to greater effect has yet been put forward. Until the Hawker Report is accepted by Government and the control staff recruited I can give no assurance that the hawker control arrangements now in force in the hawker demonstration areas mentioned in my reply to another question can be extended.
In approving the Hawker Report, Council may, I think, be taken to concur with this view and to have endorsed the proposals for dealing with these con- ditions. If any Member or Select Committee can suggest an alternative solution, I have no doubt that it would receive the full support of other Members."
DR. LEE-Is the Chairman aware and does he not agree that the removal of chicken crates and other miscellaneous items in the vicinity of Kowloon City Market will materially improve the sanitary conditions?
CHAIRMAN :—I am sorry, I did not quite catch that question.
DR. LEE: Is the Chairman aware and does he not agree that the removal of chicken crates and other miscellaneous items in the vicinity of Kowloon City Market will materially improve the sanitation of these markets? I rise to ask this as a supple- mentary question.
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