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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN.

I am sure it is your wish that I should extend a warm welcome, on behalf of all Members, to Mr. D. C. BARTY, who joins the Council for the first time today as Commissioner for Resettlement. I know that you will find him to be a very capable and helpful colleague.

I would also like to welcome back our Secretary, Mr. WHITLEY, on his return from leave.

MR. B. A. BERNACCHI:-On behalf of all the Unofficials, I join you, Mr. Chairman, in welcoming Mr. BARTY on his appointment as Commissioner for Resettlement. The Resettlement Department is one of the most important departments now in Government, housing at present over half a million people and as time goes on the numbers will increase considerably.

I also join you in welcoming back Mr. WHITLEY from leave. I hope he has had a very good leave and I am very pleased to see him with us today. (Applause).

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Thank you very much.

MINUTES.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 5th November, 1963 were confirmed.

PAPERS.

THE CHAIRMAN laid upon the table the following papers:-

Appendix I

(1) Report on the work of the Urban Council and Urban Services Department for the month of November 1963. (2) Statement of Aims for 1964.

QUESTIONS.

MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following two questions:-

Whether any other body in the urban areas of the Colony outside the Urban Council has any power to permit stall- holders or pedlars to operate in any street or area? Whether any other body in the urban areas of the Colony outside the Urban Council has the power to clear off stallholders or pedlars from any street or area without prior consultation with the Urban Council?

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MR. B. A. BERNACCHI, Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee, replied as follows:-

The answer to the first question is that just as the Director of Public Works is permitted in the Regulations made under the Summary Offences Ordinance to issue permits for the occupation of Crown Land, so is the Urban Council authorized under the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance to grant licences to hawkers to hawk either from a specific spot or by way of pedlar hawking in the urban areas. Indeed it is an offence for a person to hawk without the appropriate licence from this Council. But the licence does not enable the holder to claim any right of occupation of public or private land per se.

The position is further complicated by the fact that the Com- missioner of Police is given authority under the Road Traffic Ordinance to prevent obstructions on the public highway. The Urban Council is also by specific enact- ment under the Urban Services Ordinance given authority to prohibit hawking in certain places and streets. I for one take it as a necessary implication from that specific enactment that the Urban Council has authority to license hawkers, both pedlar and fixed pitch anywhere in the urban areas no matter whether the place is on a highway or not, and I think that so long as the licensee can show the Court that he is complying with the terms of the Urban Council licence, that would be a defence to any charge of obstruction brought against him by the Com- missioner of Police. However, in practice, the Urban Council and the Commissioner of Police liaise with each other and I am happy to say that no such difficult decision has yet been brought before the Courts for a ruling. In practice, the Urban Council does not authorize any hawking along main roads. We are constantly liaising with the Police as to the problem of hawking in other streets. When the urban areas are considered as a whole, there are, surprisingly enough, comparatively few streets frequented by licensed hawkers. But as there are a lot of licensed hawkers in Hong Kong, those streets which attract hawkers usually attract them en masse.

In answer to the second question of my friend and colleague, Mrs. ELLIOTT, the Police have, under the Road Traffic Ordinance, and the Summary Offences Ordinance, ample power to keep the streets clear of unlicensed hawkers. Power of control over licensed hawkers is exercised mainly by the Urban Council through the Hawker Control Force

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