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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, may I congratulate the Commissioner for what appears to me to be a highly technical answer to a simple question.
MR. SALES:-Mr. Chairman, has Mr. CHEONG-LEEN an interest to declare in these applications for banks?
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Not any greater than Mr. SALES' interest.
MR. SALES:-I have none.
MOTIONS.
DR. R. H. S. LEE, Chairman of the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee, moved the following motion:-
THAT the Conservancy (Amendment) By-laws, 1962, be made under section 15 of the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance, 1960.
He said: Mr. Chairman, nightsoil is not a subject on which one wants to wax eloquent; but when I examine your reply to my question on this subject last December, Mr. Chairman, I cannot help thinking that wonders do not cease to occur. Conservancy fees have been a subject of many meetings and much discussion by this Council in the past without any evident relief to the subscribers. Because of the hardship felt in certain quarters, particularly by private vernacular schools, these fees were allowed to be paid in quarterly amounts as a great concession. I must say that I was very pleasantly surprised when I first heard of Government's volte-face in this matter, and that it has at last come round to the Council's view that conservancy, like cleansing, should be treated as part of urban services, and not as a special charge in addition to public rates.
When this motion is passed, Mr. Chairman, I am sure the urban dwellers who still have to rely on this primitive form of service will be pleased to hear that after the 1st June of this year they will not have to pay any more conservancy fees.
With these remarks, Mr. Chairman, I beg to move.
MR. WATSON:-Mr. Chairman, I would like to second this motion. I was not going to say any more than this but for your reply to the second question put by Mr. CHEONG-LEEN. I hope that the amendment to these by-laws will not have any adverse effect on the service provided to squatters, as outlined in paragraph (5) of your reply to Mr. CHEONG-LEEN, which says "On request and payment of fee, facilities for the reception by conservancy staff of the contents of domestic pans."
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
I beg to second.
The question was put.
The motion was carried.
Resumption of the following motion moved by the Chairman, Urban Council, at the meeting held on 3rd April, 1962:-
THAT this Council accept the Statement of Progress and Policy tabled today and in particular endorse the summary of the Council's main aims for 1962/63 as set out in paragraph 97 of the Statement.
CHAIRMAN:-The debate on the Statement of Progress and Policy, which was adjourned from the April Meeting, will now resume and I have pleasure in calling on the Commissioner for Resettlement to reply to the points which were raised by Members in their speeches.
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Mr. Chairman, a large number of different views on resettlement were expressed by Members of this Council at last month's meeting and it will be as well if I separate them into their various aspects. Low-cost housing, as has already been publicly announced, will be managed by the Housing Authority and not by the Resettlement Department and consequently any reference to low-cost housing estates will fall more appropriately to other Official Members of this Council.
Mr. CHEONG-LEEN has rightly referred to housing in general as being a most vexatious issue and indicated that the emphasis has changed from a problem of people to a problem of housing. Mr. Wilson WANG stressed the importance of speed and imagination in dealing with the problem and called for an ever increased pace of construction. Mr. CHAN Shu-woon was likewise concerned with the dimensions of the problem. Mr. WATSON referred to the deteriorating housing situation. Mr. SALES had noted from the census returns that at least a million residents were inadequately accommodated. Mr. BERNACCHI was disappointed at the failure of the department to reach previously announced target figures.
These comments are then the background for the first point, that is the current and future pace of resettlement. Rather under 75,000 persons were resettled in the past financial year and this figure includes some New Territories residents and also about 10,000 settlers, who were transferred from Cottage Areas. Practically no allowance could be made for natural increases amongst existing settlers in overcrowded estates who should, if space were available, have been thinned out to reasonable densities and allocated extra accommodation. This is a growing problem which must be recognized. On the other hand, it
Page 42 of 150
(To be continued)
(End of Page)
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Page 41 of 150
66
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, may I congratulate the Commissioner for what appears to me to be a highly technical answer to a simple question.
MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, has Mr. CHEONG-LEEN an interest to declare in these applications for banks?
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Not any greater than Mr. SALES' interest.
MR. SALES: -I have none.
MOTIONS.
DR. R. H. S. LEE, Chairman of the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee, moved the following motion:-
THAT the Conservancy (Amendment) By-laws, 1962, be made under section 15 of the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance, 1960.
He said: Mr. Chairman, nightsoil is not a subject on which one wants to wax eloquent; but when I examine your reply to my question on this subject last December, Mr. Chairman, I cannot help thinking that wonders do not cease to occur. Conservancy fees have been a subject of many meetings and much discussion by this Council in the past without any evident relief to the subscribers. Because of the hardship felt in certain quarters, particularly by private vernacular schools, these fees were allowed to be paid in quarterly amounts as a great concession. I must say that I was very pleasantly surprised when I first heard of Government's volte-face in this matter, and that it has at last come round to the Council's view that conservancy, like cleans- ing, should be treated as part of urban services, and not as a special charge in addition to public rates.
When this motion is passed, Mr. Chairman, I am sure the urban dwellers who still have to rely on this primitive form of service will be pleased to hear that after the 1st June of this year they will not have to pay any more conservancy fees.
With these remarks, Mr. Chairman, I beg to move.
MR. WATSON:-Mr. Chairman, I would like to second this motion. I was not going to say any more than this but for your reply to the second question put by Mr. CHEONG-LEEN. I hope that the amendment to these by-laws will not have any adverse effect on the service pro- vided to squatters, as outlined in paragraph (5) of your reply to Mr. CHEONG-LEEN, which says "On request and payment of fee, facilities for the reception by conservancy staff of the contents of domestic pans."
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
67
I beg to second.
The question was put.
The motion was carried.
Resumption of the following motion moved by the Chairman, Urban Council, at the meeting held on 3rd April, 1962:-
THAT this Council accept the Statement of Progress and Policy tabled today and in particular endorse the sum- mary of the Council's main aims for 1962/63 as set out in paragraph 97 of the Statement.
CHAIRMAN:-The debate on the Statement of Progress and Policy, which was adjourned from the April Meeting, will now resume and I have pleasure in calling on the Commissioner for Resettlement to reply to the points which were raised by Members in their speeches.
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Mr. Chairman, a large number of different views on resettlement were expressed by Members of this Council at last month's meeting and it will be as well if I separate them into their various aspects. Low-cost housing, as has already been publicly announced, will be managed by the Housing Authority and not by the Resettlement Department and consequently any reference to low-cost housing estates will fall more appropriately to other Official Members of this Council.
Mr. CHEONG-LEEN has rightly referred to housing in general as being a most vexatious issue and indicated that the emphasis has changed from a problem of people to a problem of housing. Mr. Wilson WANG stressed the importance of speed and imagination in dealing with the problem and called for an ever increased pace of construction. Mr. CHAN Shu-woon was likewise concerned with the dimensions of the problem. Mr. WATSON referred to the deteriorating housing situation. Mr. SALES had noted from the census returns that at least a million residents were inadequately accommodated. Mr. BERNACCHI was dis- appointed at the failure of the department to reach previously announced target figures.
These comments are then the background for the first point, that is the current and future pace of resettlement. Rather under 75,000 persons were resettled in the past financial year and this figure includes some New Territories residents and also about 10,000 settlers, who were transferred from Cottage Areas. Practically no allowance could be made for natural increases amongst existing settlers in overcrowded estates who should, if space were available, have been thinned out to reasonable densities and allocated extra accommodation. This is a growing problem which must be recognized. On the other hand, it
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