HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
There have been diverse views on the policy and work of resettlement, but I feel that the Commissioner for Resettlement has made a success of the arduous task entrusted to him, as your statement will amply testify. If he is criticized for not being able to re-house squatters fast enough, it is not due to any lack of effort on his part, but to the fact that the problem is too huge and complicated for the Colony to handle alone. It is hoped that during this World Refugee Year financial assistance from sources outside Hong Kong will be forthcoming to enable us to tackle this important problem even more satisfactorily.
Many latrines in various parts of the Colony are now in a very poor state, and it is now time that they should be reprovisioned or replaced without delay. I am aware that we have a lengthy programme for reprovisioning old latrines as well as building new ones, and I suggest that the work of reprovisioning should be expedited. If full-scale reprovisioning cannot be carried out without unduly upsetting our programme, then doors to the compartments should be provided in those latrines where they are conspicuous by their absence.
Members of the public will have noted with satisfaction that hawkers are now under better control. I passed the Pei Ho Street Market the other day, and was pleasantly surprised to see that conditions there were much better than they had been during my last visit. I understand that this improvement is the result of the close co-operation between the Police Department, the Urban Services Department and the hawkers concerned, and that a similar improvement is being effected in other areas.
Complaints have been made to me that the corridors and yards of some new skyscrapers or multi-storeyed buildings are often kept in a deplorable condition. With these buildings coming up like mushrooms in the city, the question will soon arise, if it has not arisen, as to who should be bound by law to keep the corridors, staircases and yards clean. I suggest that this Council should give this matter a little thought before it gets out of control.
I support Dr. P. F. Woo's proposal that the duties of this Council should be extended. As this is the only Council in Hong Kong where there are appointed and elected members, there is no reason why it should not be given a larger measure of responsibility so that members may have a greater opportunity to serve the community.
With these brief comments, Mr. Chairman, I beg to support your statement.
CHAIRMAN:-I don't know if any members would like a brief recess? Five minutes recess.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. Y. K. KAN:-Mr. Chairman, this Council is responsible for the issuance of some 40 types of licences and permits ranging from restaurants, market stalls, food factories, food shops, to the sale of cold drinks, ice cream and milk. Each year we issue thousands of such licences and permits and the fees we collect constitute the biggest item of our revenue. This aspect of Council's work is all the more important because it affects the livelihood of a very large section of the Colony's population.
In many cases the licensing procedure is comparatively simple and straightforward, but there are others where the procedure is more complex and has given rise to complaints of delays and corruption.
A correspondent in the S.C.M.P. issue of the 30th March gives his reasons why people offer bribes. This is what he says in part:-
"It's quite wrong to say that honest citizens need not pay corrupt money nor should fear to make their grievances public. The average H.K. men are no ninnies either, and I believe are reasonably honest and law-abiding. But if they are on their own, without pay cheques to expect at the end of the month, and have families to support, they would have little or no alternative but to pay up in the face of obstruction, blocking, shelving, delay and/or approval refusal on flimsy grounds or according to strict interpretation of the rule. After all, time is money, and a delay of few months may mean more dough than paying a 'squeeze' owing to the high rate of loan interest, rental or overhead or plain slow turnover, etc."
This attitude of mind is all too common and widespread in this place and, however deplorable, there is perhaps some justification for it. So long as we have laws affecting the daily life of the people which are difficult for the average person to understand, so long as the machinery of government is wound in red tape and so long as we allow officialdom to go unchecked, bribery and corruption will always remain with us. Cut out the red tape and remove the little tin gods whose nodding or shaking of the head very often means fortune or ruin and we will have taken away one of the basic causes of corruption.
Sir, you and other members have before you for your consideration after this Debate a report of the sub-committee appointed by this Council and headed by my colleague, Mr. WATSON. This sub-committee has made certain recommendations aimed at streamlining and speeding up the licensing procedure. I firmly believe that the measures proposed will result in far greater efficiency in the licensing procedure of this Council and, what is more important, reduce the opportunity for corrupt practices. These measures if adopted will, I hope, be given the widest possible publicity and I urge the public in their own interests to take
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
There have been diverse views on the policy and work of resettle- ment, but I feel that the Commissioner for Resettlement has made a success of the arduous task entrusted to him, as your statement will amply testify. If he is criticized for not being able to re-house squatters fast enough, it is not due to any lack of effort on his part, but to the fact that the problem is too huge and complicated for the Colony to handle alone. It is hoped that during this World Refugee Year financial assistance from sources outside Hong Kong will be forthcoming to enable us to tackle this important problem even more satisfactorily.
Many latrines in various parts of the Colony are now in a very poor state, and it is now time that they should be reprovisioned or replaced without delay. I am aware that we have a lengthy programme for reprovisioning old latrines as well as building new ones, and I suggest that the work of reprovisioning should be expedited. If full- scale reprovisioning cannot be carried out without unduly upsetting our programme, then doors to the compartments. should be provided in those latrines where they are conspicuous by their absence.
Members of the public will have noted with satisfaction that hawkers are now under better control. I passed the Pei Ho Street Market the other day, and was pleasantly surprised to see that conditions there were much better than they had been during my last visit. I understand that this improvement is the result of the close co-operation between the Police Department, the Urban Services Depart- ment and the hawkers concerned, and that a similar improvement is being effected in other areas.
Complaints have been made to me that the corridors and yards of some new skyscrapers or multi-storeyed buildings are often kept in a deplorable condition. With these buildings coming up like mush- rooms in the city, the question will soon arise, if it has not arisen, as to who should be bound by law to keep the corridors, staircases and yards clean. I suggest that this Council should give this matter a little thought before it gets out of control.
I support Dr. P. F. Woo's proposal that the duties of this Council should be extended. As this is the only Council in Hong Kong where there are appointed and elected members, there is no reason why it should not be given a larger measure of responsibility so that members may have a greater opportunity to serve the community.
With these brief comments, Mr. Chairman, I beg to support your statement.
CHAIRMAN:-I don't know if any members would like a brief recess? Five minutes recess.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
25
MR. Y. K. KAN:-Mr. Chairman, this Council is responsible for the issuance of some 40 types of licences and permits ranging from restaurants, market stalls, food factories, food shops, to the sale of cold drinks, ice cream and milk. Each year we issue thousands of such licences and permits and the fees we collect constitute the biggest item of our revenue. This aspect of Council's work is all the more important because it affects the livelihood of a very large section of the Colony's population.
In many cases the licensing procedure is comparatively simple and straightforward, but there are others where the procedure is more complex and has given rise to complaints of delays and corruption.
A correspondent in the S.C.M.P. issue of the 30th March gives his reasons why people offer bribes. This is what he says in part:-
"It's quite wrong to say that honest citizens need not pay corrupt money nor should fear to make their grievances public. The average H.K. men are no ninnies either, and I believe are reasonably honest and law-abiding. But if they are on their own, without pay cheques to expect at the end of the month, and have families to support, they would have little or no alternative but to pay up in the face of obstruction, blocking, shelving, delay and/or approval refusal on filmsy grounds or according to strict interpretation of the rule. After all, time is money, and a delay of few months may mean more dough than paying a 'squeeze' owing to the high rate of loan interest, rental or overhead or plain slow turnover, etc."
This attitude of mind is all too common and widespread in this place and, however deplorable, there is perhaps some justification for it. So long as we have laws affecting the daily life of the people which are difficult for the average person to understand, so long as the machinery of government is wound in red tape and so long as we allow officialdom to go unchecked, bribery and corruption will always remain with us. Cut out the red tape and remove the little tin gods whose nodding or shaking of the head very often means fortune or ruin and we will have taken away one of the basic causes of corruption.
Sir, you and other members have before you for your consideration after this Debate a report of the sub-committee appointed by this Council and headed by my colleague, Mr. WATSON. This sub-committee has made certain recommendations aimed at streamlining and speeding up the licensing procedure. I firmly believe that the measures proposed will result in far greater efficiency in the licensing procedure of this Council and, what is more important, reduce the opportunity for corrupt practices. These measures if adopted will, I hope, be given the widest possible publicity and I urge the public in their own interests to take
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