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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. CHEONG-LEEN: May I ask another supplementary question, Mr. Chairman? Can I have an answer then to paragraph (c) of my Question? Apparently, an answer to this has been completely forgotten—or omitted.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:—Mr. Chairman, I did say "The answer to the second and third parts of the question is in the negative."
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-In other words, to clarify the answer, does it mean that even Government departments are working behind closed doors in relation to each other? No further supplementaries.
MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:
Apropos to the recent comments by Miss Hephzibah MENUHIN in a BBC interview on conditions in Hong Kong, will the Chairman please state what hygiene and sanitation services are being provided for the 500,000 persons still awaiting resettlement? From the point of view of public health, are such services considered adequate for the time being?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
In these areas the department provides the following services
(1) temporary latrines, which are cleansed daily; (2) sweeping up of refuse by gangs of labourers;
(3) large bins for the storage of refuse, which are emptied twice daily;
(4) clearance of refuse and silt from surface drainage channels;
(5) on request and payment of fee, facilities for the reception by conservancy staff of the contents of domestic pans.
These services, supplemented as they sometimes are by nearby public bathhouse/latrines, are designed to limit the threat posed by squatter settlements to the public health, until such time as the resettlement programme has been completed.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:--Mr. Chairman, may I congratulate the department for providing these services.
MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:
Has the Commissioner for Resettlement looked into the possibility of encouraging banks to establish branch offices in the larger resettlement estates in order to provide
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65
savings account and other facilities for resettlement residents?
THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:
I am naturally most anxious to encourage habits of thrift and saving amongst the settlers but there are three reasons why your proposal presents difficulties.
Firstly banking businesses by their very nature require good shop premises and it would be unrealistic to allocate such premises to concerns run primarily for profit by non-settlers when there is already a lengthy waiting list of genuine entitled settlers.
Secondly there are many banks and it would be unfair to give one preference over the other even though one is better known than the other and may possibly give a wider banking service. All merit equal treatment, provided of course that they are properly registered, and there would be no point in filling up the Estates with a multiplicity of concerns for which there would be little business.
Thirdly I have seen no evidence to show that, those who wish to deposit savings, operate current accounts or use any other banking facilities, are precluded from doing so by inconvenience of location. The growth of banking facilities in Kowloon over the last few years has been quite spectacular and they now exist in close proximity to such estates as Wong Tai Sin. If however you are in possession of such evidence of need I shall be most happy to circulate it to the Areas and Estates Select Committee.
There has never to my knowledge been any application to this Department for the establishment of branch banks in Estates but, if any are received in the future, they can be considered on their merits in the light of the aforementioned objections and referred to the Areas and Estates Select Committee.
I would also mention that commendable work is being done by the Resettlement Estates Loan and Savings Association in the field of interest-free small loans to needy settlers. Offices of this Association which is run under the auspices of the Council of Social Service have already been established in Shek Kip Mei, Wong Tai Sin, Chai Wan and Kwun Tong and from them applications are also handled in other Estates.
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. CHEONG-LEEN: May I ask another supplementary question, Mr. Chairman? Can I have an answer then to paragraph (c) of my Question? Apparently, an answer to this has been completely forgotten ---or omitted.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES:—Mr. Chairman, I did say "The answer to the second and third parts of the question is in the negative."
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-In other words, to clarify the answer, does it mean that even Government departments are working behind closed doors in relation to each other?. No further supplementaries.
MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:
Apropos to the recent comments by Miss Hephzibah MENUHIN in a BBC interview on conditions in Hong Kong, will the Chairman please state what hygiene and sanitation services are being provided for the 500,000 persons still awaiting resettlement? From the point of view of public health, are such services considered adequate for the time being?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
In these areas the department provides the following services
(1) temporary latrines, which are cleansed daily; (2) sweeping up of refuse by gangs of labourers;
(3) large bins for the storage of refuse, which are
emptied twice daily;
(4) clearance of refuse and silt from surface drainage
channels;
(5) on request and payment of fee, facilities for the reception by conservancy staff of the contents of domestic pans.
These services, supplemented as they sometimes are by nearby public bathhouse/latrines, are designed to limit the threat posed by squatter settlements to the public health, until such time as the resettlement programme has been com- pleted.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:--Mr. Chairman, may I congratulate the department for providing these services.
MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:
Has the Commissioner for Resettlement looked into the possibility of encouraging banks to establish branch offices in the larger resettlement estates in order to provide
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
65
savings account and other facilities for resettlement residents?
THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:·
I am naturally most anxious to encourage habits of thrift and saving amongst the settlers but there are three reasons why your proposal presents difficulties.
Firstly banking businesses by their very nature require good shop premises and it would be unrealistic to allocate such premises to concerns run primarily for profit by non- settlers when there is already a lengthy waiting list of genuine entitled settlers.
Secondly there are many banks and it would be unfair to give one preference over the other even though one is better known than the other and may possibly give a wider banking service. All merit equal treatment, provided of course that they are properly registered, and there would be no point in filling up the Estates with a multiplicity of concerns for which there would be little business.
Thirdly I have seen no evidence to show that, those who wish to deposit savings, operate current accounts or use any other banking facilities, are precluded from doing so by inconvenience of location. The growth of banking facili- ties in Kowloon over the last few years has been quite spectacular and they now exist in close proximity to such estates as Wong Tai Sin. If however you are in possession of such evidence of need I shall be most happy to circulate it to the Areas and Estates Select Committee.
There has never to my knowledge been any application to this Department for the establishment of branch banks in Estates but, if any are received in the future, they can be considered on their merits in the light of the aforemen- tioned objections and referred to the Areas and Estates Select Committee.
I would also mention that commendable work is being done by the Resettlement Estates Loan and Savings Association in the field of interest free small loans to needy settlers. Offices of this Association which is run under the auspices of the Council of Social Service have already been established in Shek Kip Mei, Wong Tai Sin, Chai Wan and Kwun Tong and from them applications are also handled in other Estates.
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