HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 56 of 107
MR. A. DE O. SALES asked the following question : —
"Will the Chairman please give this Council a report on the measures now taken to keep the hawkers along Nga Tsin Wei Road and its vicinity under control?”
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows : ---
"Within staffing limitations, the Police are very active in bringing about a better state of affairs than normally exists at this hawker trouble spot. Joint Police and Urban Services Department action to improve the sanitary condition of the hawker areas around Kowloon City Market is also put in hand as often as staff can be made available. The last major effort in this respect was made in May.
I am at the moment in the process of recruiting staff whose sole task will be the regular cleansing of all congested hawker areas. With regard to the control of hawkers, the Superintendent of Crown Lands and Surveys has been requested to arrange the clearance of squatters and permittees at the rear of Kowloon City Market so that pedlar hawkers may be sited in a bazaar there."
MR. SALES: ---A supplementary question, please. The situation would have been better had the Hawker Control Unit been in force? Am I right?
CHAIRMAN: ---We very much hope so.
MR. SALES: -I would like to know when the Hawker Control Unit will be in operation.
CHAIRMAN:—I am unable to give you a definite answer on that point, but again, I regard it as too far fetched and not arising directly out of this question.
MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, when you so liberally interpreted Standing Orders as to deprive a member of his privilege of asking for clarification I wanted to ask Mr. Bernacchi when that Force would be put into effect. Because without the Force, this dreadful situation would not be improved at all and I would like that to be minuted.
DR. P. F. Woo: -Mr. Chairman, Mr. Cheong-Leen is not in the Colony. May I have your permission to ask the question standing in his name?
CHAIRMAN: -You have my permission.
DR. P. F. Woo asked the following question :-
“(a) Has the Chairman considered the possibility of having the roof of the Hong Kong Star Ferry Terminus transformed into a Promenade?
(b) If not, would the Chairman support this suggestion and take the necessary steps to implement it?"
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
"I can do no better than quote the reply of the then Chairman, Urban Council, in 1956 to a similar question raised by Dr. Gosano—
"No, Sir. I have been informed by my friend, the Director of Public Works, that the roofs of these piers are not designed for, and could not safely be used for, the purpose envisaged in your question; and furthermore that such use would be contrary to the provisions of the Star Ferry Company (Services) Ordinance, 1951."
MR. BERNACCHI: -May I ask a supplementary question, Mr. Chairman? That does deal effectively with the Star Ferry, but I wonder whether further consideration might not be given to Queen's Pier which does look not very imposing for the major pier in the Colony, and if not an upper storey if only for a restaurant, could not be built there and give the pier a far more pleasing effect.
CHAIRMAN: We have no facts and figures.
MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, does the question apply to Kowloon as well? Because he used the term Hong Kong.
CHAIRMAN: -He used the term Hong Kong.
MR. SALES: -Shall we recess while you try to reach Mr. Cheong-Leen in Manila, because the Kowloon Residents' Association have considered that and opposed a restaurant because that would add to the congestion at the Kowloon pier.
MR. CHAN SHU WOON asked the following question:-
"Mr. Chairman, the scavenging lanes and the shades over open spaces in private premises are mostly dirty because some occupants on the upper floors used to throw down waste papers and rubbish, the accumulation of which constitutes a potential danger of fire and jeopardizes public health. Is the Chairman aware of this matter; and what measures to be taken to improve this condition?"
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
"Yes, I am aware of this distressing practice. I might add that refuse discarded through the windows of upper floors does not fall only in scavenging lanes and behind hoardings. It also falls largely in public streets. As you are no doubt aware, this Council provides a cleansing service...
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 56 of 107
97
MR. A. DE O. SALES asked the following question : —
"Will the Chairman please give this Council a report on the measures now taken to keep the hawkers along Nga Tsin Wei Road and its vicinity under control?”
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows : ---
"Within staffing limitations, the Police are very active in bring- ing about a better state of affairs than normally exists at this hawker trouble spot. Joint Police and Urban Services Department action to improve the sanitary condition of the hawker areas around Kowloon City Market is also put in hand as often as staff can be made available. The last major effort in this respect was made in May.
I am at the moment in the process of recruiting staff whose sole task will be the regular cleansing of all congested hawker areas. With regard to the control of hawkers, the Superintendent of Crown Lands and Surveys has been requested to arrange the clearance of squatters and per- mittees at the rear of Kowloon City Market so that pedlar hawkers may be sited in a bazaar there."
MR. SALES: ---A supplementary question, please. The situation would have been better had the Hawker Control Unit been in force? Am I right?
CHAIRMAN: ---We very much hope so.
MR. SALES-I would like to know when the Hawker Control Unit will be in operation.
CHAIRMAN:—I am unable to give you a definite answer on that point, but again, I regard it as too far fetched and not arising directly out of this question.
MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, when you so liberally interpreted Standing Orders as to deprive a member of his privilege of asking for clarification I wanted to ask Mr. Bernacchi when that Force would be put into effect. Because without the Force, this dreadful situation would not be improved at all and I would like that to be minuted.
DR. P. F. Woo:-Mr. Chairman, Mr. Cheong-Leen is not in the Colony. May I have your permission to ask the question standing in his name?
CHAIRMAN: -You have my permission.
DR. P. F. Woo asked the following question :-
“(a) Has the Chairman considered the possibility of having the roof of the Hong Kong Star Ferry Terminus trans- formed into a Promenade?
!
(b) If not, would the Chairman support this suggestion and
take the necessary steps to implement it?"
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
"I can do no better than quote the reply of the then Chairman, Urban Council, in 1956 to a similar question raised by Dr. Gosano—
"No, Sir. I have been informed by my friend, the Director of Public Works, that the roofs of these piers are not designed for, and could not safely be used for, the purpose envisaged in your question; and furthermore that such use would be contrary to the provisions of the Star Ferry Company (Services) Ordinance, 1951."
MR. BERNACCHI-May I ask a supplementary question, Mr. Chairman? That does deal effectively with the Star Ferry, but I wonder whether further consideration might not be given to Queen's Pier which does look not very imposing for the major pier in the Colony, and if not an upper storey if only for a restaurant, could not be built there and give the pier a far more pleasing effect.
CHAIRMAN: We have no facts and figures.
MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, does the question apply to Kowloon as well?
Because he used the term Hong Kong.
CHAIRMAN:-He used the term Hong Kong.
MR. SALES: -Shall we recess while you try to reach Mr. Cheong-Leen in Manila, because the Kowloon Residents' Association have considered that and opposed a restaurant because that would add to the congestion at the Kowloon pier.
MR. CHAN SHU WOON asked the following question:-
"Mr. Chairman, the scavenging lanes and the shades over open spaces in private premises are mostly dirty because some occupants on the upper floors used to throw down waste papers and rubbish, the accumulation of which con- stitutes a potential danger of fire and jeopardizes public health. Is the Chairman aware of this matter; and what measures to be taken to improve this condition?"
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
"Yes, I am aware of this distressing practice. I might add that refuse discarded through the windows of upper floors does not fall only in scavenging lanes and behind hoard- ings. It also falls largely in public streets. As you are no doubt aware, this Council provides a cleansing service
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