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allowed to remain there for weeks and months. Decomposition then takes place and, first of all, foul smells come out, so that residents have to close all their windows even in summer. Breeding of vermin and flies comes next, followed by the infestation of rats. Cats chase after the rats, and playing hide and seek from floor to floor, they carry with them vermin and diseases from the decomposed refuse.

During the past seven years, Council has not found a practical solution to deal with these illegal structures. It was feared in the past that demolishing these structures would cause hardship to the people concerned. I would not comment on whether the factor of hardship is over-stressed here, but it has certainly worsened the situation and the health of the general population is thus jeopardized. The latest policy advanced by the Urban Services Department is that removal of illegal structures is justified only if the degree of obstruction to light and ventilation exceeds a certain percentage. I wonder how this degree can be measured, or whether it is just a matter depending on the individual's opinion. In "measuring" this degree, do they take into consideration the fact that the sun may shine more brightly one day than another and that the wind can blow from different directions? It is also a ridiculous situation in which Council can take action against illegal structures on the ground of obstruction to light and ventilation which only affect a few people on the ground floor, but not on the accumulation of refuse which, as I have described, may affect all the tenants in the building.

It has been estimated that there are still about 25,000 pre-war buildings due to be reconstructed, most of which would have their yards covered up. I feel very strongly that the Public Works Department should help in stopping these illegal structures. It is, I think, not unreasonable to suggest that in approving the building plans for new houses, the Building Authority should prohibit any illegal structures to be erected in the yards, for after all the purposes of the yards are mainly for ventilation. I know that the Public Works Department has laid down certain regulations on the yards or open spaces of buildings, but from my visit to the buildings in Ka Shin Street a few months ago in connection with illegal structures, I found that the yards and lanes there are narrow and small. The Urban Council has the responsibility to keep these yards and lanes clean, but quite often they are obstructed and inaccessible. I invite the attention of the Director of Public Works to examine the design of the buildings in Ka Shin Street and note the difficulty encountered by the Urban Council in carrying out its functions and responsibilities. I do not intend to criticize the Public Works Department in any way, as I have great respect for Mr. Michael WRIGHT who has a much wider knowledge of the problems of local building and planning than any of his predecessors. (Applause). I only feel that there should be closer consultation between the Public Works Department and the Urban Council not only on parks and playgrounds but also on other matters such as tenement houses.

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consultation between the Public Works Department and the Urban Council not only on parks and playgrounds but also on other matters such as tenement houses.

With these remarks, Mr. Chairman, I have much pleasure in supporting the motion before Council to-day. (Applause).

MR. WILFRED S. B. WONG:-Mr. Chairman, with the notable exception of Mr. BERNACCHI's point about the extension of the jurisdiction of the Urban Council into the New Territories, some of the speeches so far including mine bear a familiar tone. This, in my humble opinion, is caused by the fact that a final examination is being held in the middle of the year when our sub-conscious mind has not readily absorbed the impressions and events normally digested in the course of a year. This year we have moved our annual speech ahead by as much as four months for certain reasons. In the future, may I suggest that we reconsider the date of our annual debate in order to give us something more into which we can get our teeth.

Were it not for the fact that the purview of the Urban Council is limited, I would have liked to speak on the need of a course in ethics for high school students as a means of maintaining the standards of good citizenship in Hong Kong and on the technical aspects of sea water conversion as a solution to the water problem. However, being limited to the scope of activities of the Council's 15 Select Committees, I shall speak on the subjects of several Select Committees on which I serve and subjects in which I specialize.

(At this point, Mr. BERNACCHI interrupted)

MR. BERNACCHI:-On a point of order, Mr. Chairman, I think it is by convention of the constitution customary not to limit the speaker to Urban Council jurisdiction matters.

MR. WONG: I thank Mr. BERNACCHI for pointing out that I can speak on anything I really wanted, but as I said before, the purview of the Council at the present time is limited to the 15 Select Committees and I am speaking on those subjects which I think perhaps my views may be taken and put into practice. These are the problems of hawkers, markets, environmental hygiene, and food and food premises. A number of subjects lie within the scope of other Select Committees to which I belong, but they did not seem to give rise to any problem.

Concerning hawkers, I will now say that I am learning less and less about more and more. The means of solving the hawker problem are diminishing. Space for hawker stalls is limited. Since streets and pavements are public property, there are very few streets where we can resite hawkers without meeting objections in general or obstructing

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