Page 50 of 107
84
# HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
## ADDRESS BY THE CHAIRMAN
Before proceeding to the business of the meeting it is my pleasure to welcome members to this new Chamber of ours. I am sure all will agree that once the air-conditioning is completed it will be a much brighter venue for meetings than the old one, which the Council and its predecessor the Sanitary Board had occupied for over 25 years. It is recorded that the move from an outer room in the General Post Office Building to an inner one was made because the noise of traffic in Pedder Street became much too loud. Now, 12 floors above Queen's Road Central, we are unlikely to be disturbed on this account.
It is also my pleasure on behalf of this Council to congratulate Messrs. Fung Ping Fan, R. C. Lee and C. Y. Kwan on their appointments to the Legislative Council. They have played important roles with us and will now find yet wider scope for their abilities.
Finally I am happy to welcome to this Council Mr. J. L. Marden, who succeeds Col. Clague as an appointed member. Mr. Marden is no stranger to Hong Kong or to members, and his wide experience in the commercial world will be of great value in the multifarious activities of this Council. (Applause).
## MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 2nd June, 1959, were confirmed.
## PAPERS
THE CHAIRMAN laid upon the table the following paper:---
Report on the work of the Urban Council and Urban Services Department for the month of June, 1959.
He said: Mr. Bernacchi has a few words to say in elaboration.
MR. BERNACCHI: Mr. Chairman, as Chairman of the Hawkers Executive Committee I would like to say a few further words upon the subject of hawking to supplement the Report on the work of the Council that has just been laid on the table.
Hawking is an essential aspect of our community life, but if it is to continue in a modern city, it must be subject to a measure of control. In our hawker demonstration areas which, as it is said, remain satisfactory, we are showing that controlled hawking, with goodwill and co-operation on both sides, can be carried on in a manner that ensures that the hawkers make a living, the streets remain reasonably clean and tidy, and the housewife has the full advantage of the low price for which the hawkers are able to sell their wares.
85
In contra-distinction to these demonstration areas are the uncontrolled hawking districts which at present can only be the subject of special hawker and scavenging operations to clean up the lorry loads of mess all around and to seize the paraphernalia of unlicensed hawkers. These uncontrolled areas, particularly around markets, continue to be a blot on our whole health services and will remain so until the much delayed Hawker Control Force can be brought into operation.
The seizing of unlicensed hawkers' paraphernalia may sound at first rather hard, but it must be remembered that any person can obtain a hawker's pedlar licence, and unlicensed hawkers are at present endangering our whole executive organization. This is particularly so in respect to those areas where we license fixed pitch or larger stalls and cooked food stalls. Going round from time to time, both officially and unofficially, I am amazed to see the large number of unlicensed hawkers' stalls operating in apparent complete immunity, whilst for health reasons we impose and insist upon standards for which our licensee can even be suspended should he fail to conform with them. I have seen the licensee of a cooked food stall having his name taken by a member of our staff for a definite, although perhaps not very serious, breach of our by-laws, whilst right next door functioned an unlicensed cooked food stall operating from a table in the filthiest of conditions and breaking every conceivable by-law that we ever passed. The reason for this is that at present we control only licensed stalls and leave the control of unlicensed hawkers to the Police. The Police have already many other matters on their books and whilst unlicensed hawkers are kept away from main thoroughfares, little attention is given to the side streets. In the result it is being said openly in town that it is better to do cooked food business unlicensed than licensed. Once again, this serious problem can only be tackled when we have the Hawker Control Unit in operation. It is intended that they will be responsible for the health control of all hawking whether licensed or unlicensed.
In conclusion therefore the present position is that we are gradually, but all too gradually, extending our demonstration areas, that other areas of licensed hawkers are subject to somewhat spasmodic control and that except in the areas around markets where the Police and ourselves co-operate on special hawker and scavenging operations, and in main thoroughfares, unlicensed hawking continues with little or no control. Control is necessary for the health of the community. It is also necessary if the community of hawkers are to continue at all in a
Page 50
Page 51
07
Page 51 of 107
Page 50 of 107
107
Page 50 of 107
84
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY THE CHAIRMAN.
Before proceeding to the business of the meeting it is my pleasure to welcome members to this new Chamber of ours. I am sure all will agree that once the air-conditioning is completed it will be a much brighter venue for meetings than the old one, which the Council and its predecessor the Sanitary Board had occupied for over 25 years. It is recorded that the move from an outer room in the General Post Office Building to an inner one was made because the noise of traffic in Pedder Street became much too loud. Now, 12 floors above Queen's Road Central, we are unlikely to be disturbed on this account.
It is also my pleasure on behalf of this Council to congratulate Messrs. Fung Ping Fan, R. C. Lee and C. Y. Kwan on their appoint- ments to the Legislative Council. They have played important roles with us and will now find yet wider scope for their abilities.
Finally I am happy to welcome to this Council Mr. J. L. Marden, who succeeds Col. Clague as an appointed member. Mr. Marden is no stranger to Hong Kong or to members, and his wide experience in the commercial world will be of great value in the multifarious activities of this Council. (Applause).
MINUTES.
The Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 2nd June, 1959, were confirmed.
PAPERS.
THE CHAIRMAN laid upon the table the following paper:---
Report on the work of the Urban Council and Urban Services
Department for the month of June, 1959.
He said: Mr. Bernacchi has a few words to say in elaboration.
MR. BERNACCHI: Mr. Chairman, as Chairman of the Hawkers Executive Committee I would like to say a few further words upon the subject of hawking to supplement the Report on the work of the Council that has just been laid on the table.
Hawking is an essential aspect of our community life, but if it is to continue in a modern city, it must be subject to a measure of control. In our hawker demonstration areas which, as it is said, remain satis- factory, we are showing that controlled hawking, with goodwill and co-operation on both sides, can be carried on in a manner that ensures
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
85
that the hawkers make a living, the streets remain reasonably clean and tidy, and the housewife has the full advantage of the low price for which the hawkers are able to sell their wares.
In contra-distinction to these demonstration areas are the uncon- trolled hawking districts which at present can only be the subject of special hawker and scavenging operations to clean up the lorry loads of mess all around and to seize the paraphernalia of unlicensed hawkers. These uncontrolled areas, particularly around markets, continue to be a blot on our whole health services and will remain so until the much delayed Hawker Control Force can be brought into operation.
The seizing of unlicensed hawkers' paraphernalia may sound at first rather hard, but it must be remembered that any person can obtain a hawker's pedlar licence, and unlicensed hawkers are at present endangering our whole executive organization. This is particularly so in respect to those areas where we license fixed pitch or larger stalls and cooked food stalls. Going round from time to time, both officially and unofficially, I am amazed to see the large number of unlicensed hawkers' stalls operating in apparent complete immunity, whilst for health reasons we impose and insist upon standards for which our licensee can even be suspended should he fail to conform with them. I have seen the licensee of a cooked food stall having his name taken by a member of our staff for a definite, although perhaps not very serious, breach of our by-laws, whilst right next door functioned an unlicensed cooked food stall operating from a table in the filthiest of conditions and breaking every conceivable by-law that we ever passed. The reason for this is that at present we control only licensed stalls and leave the control of unlicensed hawkers to the Police. The Police have already many other matters on their books and whilst unlicensed hawkers are kept away from main thoroughfares, little attention is given to the side streets. In the result it is being said openly in town that it is better to do cooked food business unlicensed than licensed. Once again, this serious problem can only be tackled when we have the Hawker Control Unit in operation. It is intended that they will be responsible for the health control of all hawking whether licensed or unlicensed.
In conclusion therefore the present position is that we are gradually, but all too gradually, extending our demonstration areas, that other areas of licensed hawkers are subject to somewhat spasmodic control and that except in the areas around markets where the Police and ourselves co-operate on special hawker and scavenging operations, and in main thoroughfares, unlicensed hawking continues with little or no control. Control is necessary for the health of the community. It is also necessary if the community of hawkers are to continue at all in a
Page 50Page 51
07
||
Page 51 of 107
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.