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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
limewash applied to the wall surfaces will have a disinfecting effect, and the scrubbing of floors and furniture which is inevitable after lime-washing will make a home far cleaner and more healthy than any house cleansing could have done.
Mr. Chairman and fellow members, I wish to thank you for listening to what I have just said. I think the points raised have most probably been brought to the attention of the Council before and that they have been or are being given the fullest consideration.
And now, I have pleasure to support the Chairman's motion that this Council accepts the Statement of Progress and Policy tabled to-day.
MR. CHAN SHU-WOON:- Mr. Chairman, I wish to take this opportunity to thank the public for their confidence and support of us all in the past year.
Your Statement of Progress and Policy is very encouraging. No one can deny the fact that a great deal of work has been done and yet a lot more has to be accomplished by this Council.
To-day my speech will be brief. I would like to mention a few things which, I consider, may be of some help in improving our urban activities.
I remember last year I spoke of enlarging the scope of the Urban Council in the hope of enabling it to become a municipal government in theory and in practice. The activities of this Council are now confined mainly in the field of sanitation, amenities and resettlement, leaving most of the important municipal affairs outside the scope of this Council. I agree with what Mr. BERNACCHI said last month that if the Urban Council could not be enlarged into a Municipal Government to take over the responsibilities of all municipal administrations, it might as well be abolished. That the Legislative Council should be enlarged by admitting Elected Members; and both the Legislative Council and the Executive Council should be empowered to exercise the right to form a Select Committee to supervise the work of the Urban Services Department and other municipal services.
On account of the rapid growth of the Colony's population, the Urban Services Department becomes busier day by day. The issue, whether the Urban Council should be enlarged or abolished, is here for us to decide. Therefore, I like to bring this matter up now so that the attention of the Government will be drawn to it.
In any event the Legislative Council is a law-making body, there should be elected members in that Council, otherwise, we can not achieve our goal of what we mean by the people's representation in government. For this very reason, the people of Hong Kong sincerely
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
17
hope that the Colonial Office will reform this legislative body, thus enabling the Colony to realize a modern, effective and progressive government.
The next point I wish to raise is the work in Resettlement. The idea of Resettlement is to provide housing for squatters and to clean up the squatter areas once and for all. Although the Government has spent huge sums for building Resettlement Blocks for squatters and low-cost-housing estates for the white collar class, still most citizens consider that the pace of solving these resettlement and low cost housing problems is evidently too slow. Many people have been waiting for several years to be settled. If the building of the resettlement blocks could be accelerated, I think all the squatter areas would be cleared up before long. Then those rooftop and pavement squatters whose appearance is actually a shame to a modern city would disappear and the conflagrations of the past months in squatter areas would never happen again.
It is obvious that there are many difficulties in speeding up the building programme of Resettlement Estates. The building cost and the allocation of land are the major problems. But, for the need of the people of Hong Kong and the prosperity of the Colony, the Government should endeavour to solve these pressing problems at an early date. While we are now in the World Refugee Year I think we should try to obtain aid from the United Nations and other friendly nations since our squatter problems are mainly attributable to refugees from the mainland which are matters of international concern, we should do our utmost to help them.
Thirdly, I would like to say something about Food Inspection. It should be carried out with more vigor and efficiency.
As we all know that foodstuffs which are not wholesome will naturally ruin the health of the consumers. Too many victims of food poisoning from vegetables and canned foods have been recorded in the Colony in the past months. I think it is time to place all kind of foodstuffs under strict health inspection. I understand that the Council has exercised strict control over Roast Meat Shops regarding the origin and quality of the meat they sell and in particular if bacteria are found in pigs they are ordered to be destroyed by fire. According to the Hong Kong Meat Merchants General Association's report seven hundred thousand pounds of meat had been destroyed on Hong Kong island alone for the first eleven months in 1959; and that which had been destroyed on the other side of the harbour amounted to six hundred and ten thousand pounds. These statistics proved that food inspection is most vital to us. But the destruction of these infested meat is a waste so far as the supply of and demand for meat to the community are concerned. As the shortage of live stocks often occur
Page 17 of 118
17
Page 16 of 118
16
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
limewash applied to the wall surfaces will have a disinfecting effect, and the scrubbing of floors and furniture which is inevitable after lime- washing will make a home far cleaner and more healthy than any house cleansing could have done.
Mr. Chairman and fellow members, I wish to thank you for listen- ing to what I have just said. I think the points raised have most probably been brought to the attention of the Council before and that they have been or are being given the fullest consideration.
And now, I have pleasure to support the Chairman's motion that this Council accepts the Statement of Progress and Policy tabled to-day.
MR. CHAN SHU-WOON:-Mr. Chairman, I wish to take this opportunity to thank the public for their confidence and support of us all in the past year.
Your Statement of Progress and Policy is very encouraging. No one can deny the fact that a great deal of work has been done and yet a lot more has to be accomplished by this Council.
To-day my speech will be brief. I would like to mention a few things which, I consider, may be of some help in improving our urban activities.
I remember last year I spoke of enlarging the scope of the Urban Council in the hope of enabling it to become a municipal government in theory and in practice. The activities of this Council are now confined mainly in the field of sanitation, amenities and resettlement, leaving most of the important municipal affairs outside the scope of this Council. I agree with what Mr. BERNACCHI said last month that if the Urban Council could not be enlarged into a Municipal Govern- ment to take over the responsibilities of all municipal administrations, it might as well be abolished. That the Legislative Council should be enlarged by admitting Elected Members; and both the Legislative Council and the Executive Council should be empowered to exercise the right to form a Select Committee to supervise the work of the Urban Services Department and other municipal services.
On account of the rapid growth of the Colony's population, the Urban Services Department becomes busier day by day. The issue, whether the Urban Council should be enlarged or abolished, is here for us to decide. Therefore, I like to bring this matter up now so that the attention of the Government will be drawn to it.
In any event the Legislative Council is a law-making body, there should be elected members in that Council, otherwise, we can not achieve our goal of what we mean by the people's representation in government. For this very reason, the people of Hong Kong sincerely
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
17
hope that the Colonial Office will reform this legislative body, thus enabling the Colony to realize a modern, effective and progressive government.
The next point I wish to raise is the work in Resettlement. The idea of Resettlement is to provide housing for squatters and to clean up the squatter areas once and for all. Although the Government has spent huge sums for building Resettlement Blocks for squatters and low-cost-housing estates for the white collar class, still most citizens consider that the pace of solving these resettlement and low cost housing problems is evidently too slow. Many people have been waiting for several years to be settled. If the building of the resettlement blocks could be accelerated, I think all the squatter areas would be cleared up before long. Then those rooftop and pavement squatters whose appear- ance is actually a shame to a modern city would disappear and the conflagrations of the past months in squatter areas would never happen again.
It is obvious that there are many difficulties in speeding up the building programme of Resettlement Estates. The building cost and the allocation of land are the major problems. But, for the need of the people of Hong Kong and the prosperity of the Colony, the Government should endeavour to solve these pressing problems at an early date. While we are now in the World Refugee Year I think we should try to obtain aid from the United Nations and other friendly nations since our squatter problems are mainly attributable to refugees from the mainland which are matters of international concern, we should do our utmost to help them.
Thirdly, I would like to say something about Food Inspection. It should be carried out with more vigor and efficiency.
As we all know that foodstuffs which are not wholesome will naturally ruin the health of the consumers. Too many victims of food poisoning from vegetables and canned foods have been recorded in the Colony in the past months. I think it is time to place all kind of foodstuffs under strict health inspection. I understand that the Council has exercised strict control over Roast Meat Shops regarding the origin and quality of the meat they sell and in particular if bacteria are found in pigs they are ordered to be destroyed by fire. According to the Hong Kong Meat Merchants General Association's report seven hundred thousand pounds of meat had been destroyed on Hong Kong island alone for the first eleven months in 1959; and that which had been destroyed on the other side of the harbour amounted to sixty hundred and ten thousand pounds. These statistics proved that food inspection is most vital to us. But the destruction of these infested meat is a waste so far as the supply of and demand for meat to the community are concerned. As the shortage of live stocks often occur
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