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installed without delay or will there be further delay in getting the equipment?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS:- Mr. Chairman, I am not responsible for the specialist equipment for the Abattoir. It is a matter for the Urban Services Department. (Laughter).
MR. BERNACCHI :- Mr. Chairman, then I would put it to you direct.
CHAIRMAN:- Sir, I am not aware that any difficulties are likely to arise over the specialist equipment. As I understand it the delays have been purely in the production of working drawings by the Architects, but I would like, if I may, to check the point and let you know later.
DR. LEE:- Are we expecting another abattoir in Kowloon, and if so, when is it likely to be completed?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS:- The Abattoir in Kowloon is scheduled to follow three months after the Abattoir in Hong Kong. The drawings are being prepared concurrently, as there is a great deal of repetition between the two Abattoirs, but again I can give no categorical undertaking that it will be possible to keep to that programme, because the plans are in the hands of the Architects in London.
(4) DR. R. H. S. LEE asked the following question:-
In view of the great demand for car parking space in the Tsim Sha Tsui area, will the Chairman signify when will the Middle Road Car Park be opened for public use?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
Insofar as the car parking areas are concerned, the building is nearly complete and will probably be ready for use early next month.
DR. LEE:- Is the building not complete, Mr. Chairman? Is not the delay due to some road preparation process?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS:- Mr. Chairman, the parking floors have been completed for some time, but there are two factors which are holding up the use of the car park. The first one is the small basement which is underneath the pay booth. It affects the pedestrian entrance to the pay booth and we are having trouble with the tanking of this basement. It is being replaced and work is going on there. Access to the basement is by means of two or three manholes situated in the pedestrian entrance, and because there is a considerable amount of building materials to be taken down, the access is blocked. This work is pretty well finished now and will be completed before Christmas. The other factor which is delaying completion is the road connecting Salisbury Road with Middle Road and the fuel pipes serving the petrol filling station had to go across this road. They were finally put in, I think, on 23rd November and road works began to start. The road is now nearly complete and should be complete by 20th December. That leaves about 10 days for final polishing and cleaning up, and allowing for a contingency period we should have the building ready for use by the middle of January.
DR. LEE:- In view of the pressing needs for more public car parks, could such delays in future be rectified?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS: Mr. Chairman, nobody puts in tanking which fails on purpose. If the tanking fails we have to do something about it, and it is not a question of apportioning any blame -- that is a matter between us and the Contractor. Something went wrong and is being put right. We have not done it with intention and we have always tried to avoid failures of this kind as far as possible. With regard to the fuel pipes across the road, these were put in by a private oil company and as I have said, we will complete the road as quickly as we can.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:- Mr. Chairman, do I understand from your reply that this car park will most probably be turned over to the Urban Council for management by the beginning of next month or perhaps even before the end of this month?
CHAIRMAN: Yes, Sir. I think it will probably be turned over for management by this Council.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:- Does the Department propose that the fees in Kowloon will be the same or will they be higher than those in Hong Kong?
CHAIRMAN:- I must ask your permission, Sir, to look further into this question. I am not aware that any variation in fees is proposed.
MR. WATSON:- Mr. Chairman, in the absence of Mr. SALES, I would like to reserve his position. (Laughter).
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, would it be in order to ask if any exterior decorations could be done to the car park, as to me it looks like a barn?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS:- Mr. Chairman, I would be delighted to answer that question. I think this point was first raised by the writer of the column "Tiger Talk", which appears in the Sunday
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installed without delay or will there be further delay in getting the equipment?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS: -Mr. Chairman, I am not respon- sible for the specialist equipment for the Abattoir. It is a matter for the Urban Services Department. (Laughter).
MR. BERNACCHI :-Mr. Chairman, then I would put it to you direct.
CHAIRMAN:-Sir, I am not aware that any difficulties are likely to arise over the specialist equipment. As I understand it the delays have been purely in the production of working drawings by the Architects, but I would like, if I may, to check the point and let you know later.
DR. LEE:-Are we expecting another abattoir in Kowloon, and if so, when is it likely to be completed?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS:-The Abattoir in Kowloon is scheduled to follow three months after the Abattoir in Hong Kong. The drawings are being prepared concurrently, as there is a great deal of repetition between the two Abattoirs, but again I can give no categorical undertaking that it will be possible to keep to that pro- gramme, because the plans are in the hands of the Architects in London.
(4) DR. R. H. S. LEE asked the following question:-
In view of the great demand for car parking space in the Tsim Sha Tsui area, will the Chairman signify when will the Middle Road Car Park be opened for public use?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
Insofar as the car parking areas are concerned, the building is nearly complete and will probably be ready for use early next month.
DR. LEE-Is the building not complete, Mr. Chairman? Is not the delay due to some road preparation process?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS:-Mr. Chairman, the parking floors have been completed for some time, but there are two factors which are holding up the use of the car park. The first one is the small base- ment which is underneath the pay booth. It affects the pedestrian entrance to the pay booth and we are having trouble with the tanking of this basement. It is being replaced and work is going on there. Access to the basement is by means of two or three manholes situated in the pedestrian entrance, and because there is a considerable amount
of building materials to be taken down, the access is blocked. This work is pretty well finished now and will be completed before Christmas. The other factor which is delaying completion is the road connecting Salisbury Road with Middle Road and the fuel pipes serving the petrol filling station had to go across this road. They were finally put in, I think, on 23rd November and road works began to start. The road is now nearly complete and should be complete by 20th December. That leaves about 10 days for final polishing and cleaning up, and allowing for a contingency period we should have the building ready for use by the middle of January.
DR. LEE:-In view of the pressing needs for more public car parks, could such delays in future be rectified?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS: Mr. Chairman, nobody puts in tanking which fails on purpose. If the tanking fails we have to do something about it, and it is not a question of apportioning any blame -that is a matter between us and the Contractor. Something went wrong and is being put right. We have not done it with intention and we have always tried to avoid failures of this kind as far as possible. With regard to the fuel pipes across the road, these were put in by a private oil company and as I have said, we will complete the road as quickly as we can.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, do I understand from your reply that this car park will most probably be turned over to the Urban Council for management by the beginning of next month or perhaps even before the end of this month?
CHAIRMAN: Yes, Sir. I think it will probably be turned over for management by this Council.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Does the Department propose that the fees in Kowloon will be the same or will they be higher than those in Hong Kong?
CHAIRMAN:--I must ask your permission, Sir, to look further into this question. I am not aware that any variation in fees is proposed.
MR. WATSON:-Mr. Chairman, in the absence of Mr. SALES, I would like to reserve his position. (Laughter).
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, would it be in order to ask if any exterior decorations could be done to the car park, as to me it looks like a barn?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS: -Mr. Chairman, I would be delighted to answer that question. I think this point was first raised by the writer of the column "Tiger Talk", which appears in the Sunday
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