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farm. He was an elected member of the Borough Council and it was in his capacity as a member of what is euphemistically called the con- servancy committee, that we were visiting the farm. I purchased the book and have lent it to our Chairman. It describes quite dispas- sionately what goes on in Local Government affairs and could quite well have been written about Hong Kong. An underlying theme throughout the book is the constant battle against higher authority- in their case the County Council-for increased powers. I regret to say that when the book was published, Colchester had lost out to the County Council and had been deprived of some of their powers. I sincerely hope that this will not be so in our case and that we will be inspired to redouble our efforts to increase our responsibilities, so that who knows, when some person comes to write a book about local government affairs in Hong Kong, it will be entitled "Four Cheers for the City Hall". (Laughter).

In the United Kingdom, where these local councils are elected bodies with a restricted electorate as in Hong Kong, there are in most cases two parties represented. We at least have one united party. A natural result of this system was to divide up the chairmenships of various select committees which were jealously guarded, not only by the parties but by the chairmen themselves. (Laughter). Although this was inevitable, according to the author-a newspaper publisher- these chairmen ultimately were voicing the views of the departments concerned. Naturally this does not apply to this Urban Council as of course the respective chairmen have lifted the department up to their own views, after having bowed down of course to the views of the members of their committees.

Sewage Disposal. Talking as I did earlier of sewage brings me to my annual complaint, the filthy state of the harbour and surrounding waters and beaches. Since last year I am grateful in having received the support of my colleagues, Dr. Raymond LEE in July and Mr. A. de O. SALES in September, on this question.

However, I have yet to look at the problem from a birds-eye view as some have-I have never flown in a helicopter. (Laughter) With the new bund at Gin Drinkers Bay, this particular source of harbour pollution will be contained and ultimately through the installation of incinerators in Hong Kong and Kowloon, removed altogether. At the same time, of course, as our Chairman told us in July, we shall have to prevent indiscriminate dumping of rubbish from ships and along the waterfront generally. The disposal of sewage is another problem which has not yet been fully studied. To dump it in the sea is an easy but unsatisfactory method, yet it appears to be the only one being considered for our new towns. A proper sewage disposal system is a necessary though expensive adjunct to modern living, and is one which

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must eventually be adopted if we are to have reasonably safe bathing at any of our beaches in the future.

Slaughterhouses. Mr. BERNACCHI, I am sure, will be horrified at the further delay in completion following his remarks on the subject. Perhaps he had not heard of the African leader who must have been to the Kennedy Town Slaughterhouse, as when he was flying to attend the United Nations he refused all the items on the menu and instead asked for the passenger list. (Laughter).

In a way, I suppose, I am following on in my grandfather's foot- steps as I am Chairman of the Offensive Trades and Slaughterhouses Select Committee. As far as the former is concerned all is presently quiet, but with the slaughterhouses in both Hong Kong and Kowloon, the target date seems as far in the future as it has always been. This is in no way due to the Urban Services Department, or for that matter the Public Works Department, but is caused by delays in the pro- duction of working drawings by the Architect in London, for which there is no excuse whatsoever. This must necessarily aggravate the subsequent difficulty in the production of special equipment and its installation. The date for commissioning in Hong Kong is now March 1967 and in Kowloon two months later, a year later than estimated last year. This delay will inevitably reflect itself by increased costs. I understand that a certain member of the Public Works Department came out especially for this job 17 years ago and will have retired before it is finally completed. (Laughter).

Slum Clearance. In October, a paper on Slum Clearance was laid on the table stating that the Director of Public Works had been ap- pointed Chairman of an interdepartmental committee on this subject. I welcome this step taken by the Government and would like to suggest that before reaching any conclusions, they consult property owners as to the method of assessing compensation payable when property is taken over, so that the basis is clear-cut. In the United Kingdom, many cases have gone to court on the interpretation of how this compensation should be determined. This suggestion is not made in order to make the compensation higher for property owners, but in order to save time which in the case of housing in Hong Kong, is of the utmost importance.

Lotteries, which I speak on every year, and I would like to add a little more to what Mr. Li Yiu-bor has said. Whilst on the subject of housing, even though it would appear from correspondence that I am in a minority, I still suggest that some of the proceeds from the Govern- ment and Jockey Club lotteries should go to capital of the Housing Authority and Housing Society, more especially now that the White Paper suggests that these two bodies may suffer with the increased emphasis on resettlement housing.