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ference is planned next year to discuss all the aspects. The bathing beach at Lai Chi Kok has long been a danger to health and there is no likelihood that bathing in the harbour area will ever be possible until proper sewage disposal systems have been installed in the Colony generally. This danger is spreading as a recent Urban Council paper started off "Sewage Pollution of the bathing beaches on the south side of Hong Kong Island is causing some concern to the Council". One of the main dangers here is in the future development of Aberdeen new town, both with regard to conservancy, that euphemistic phrase, and industrial pollution. The latter not only affecting beaches but is also is a killer of marine life. Now is the time to plan suitable safeguards so that the beaches on the south of the island do not become unusable.
Air Pollution
The Surgeon-General of the United States made a declaration three years ago that stated "There is no doubt that air pollution is a hazard to health". It also hazards buildings and agriculture. This is caused equally by industrial complexes and motor-car exhaust fumes. The leading ingredient that is a menace to health is the sulphur dioxide fumes present in all forms of smoke from oil fires and unfortunately as yet no fool-proof system of eradicating this has been found. However, a start would be to make the exhaust pipes of all diesel fuel operated vehicles point upwards above the driver's cab, as is done in some Urban Council refuse lorries. Are the new incinerators being installed in Hong Kong and Kowloon of the new odourless and smokeless variety? Recently one was opened in the United States and the local Urban Council held a luncheon on the premises when it was opened. A concern in Yorkshire is manufacturing this type and I am certain would serve Yorkshire pudding on opening day. There would be no problem then, of installing one near Kai Tak or for that matter in Kennedy Town or Cheung Sha Wan, where undoubtedly the residents will complain. Will the inhabitants of the Wah Fu Estate Pokfulam be protected from the new power station? While Hong Kong is fortunate in having a harbour and therefore open space separating Hong Kong from Kowloon, a definite smog is growing over Kowloon which might, who knows, spread to Hong Kong. This is a menace to health, eyes and to building fabrics. Although laws are in existence to control these menaces, are they being applied and if so by whom? A central Transport Commission has been formed, why not one for pollution both in the air and water?
Waterskiing
I am not so presumptuous as to think that my speech last year produced the regulations that the Marine Department brought out earlier this year. I would like to congratulate them and only hope that those who indulge in waterskiing take the trouble to get hold of a copy of "Safety Afloat" from the Marine Department—it costs nothing—and put the advice into practice.
Hawkers
I turn now to the very real problem of hawkers, that independent, vociferous, ubiquitous and often intractable section of the community whose operations are, or should be, licensed and controlled by the Council. These street traders range from the aristocratic cooked food stallholder, of which there are 1,300-odd in the urban areas alone, to the humble pedlar selling vegetables or sundries, of which there are nearly 20,000 licensed by the Council, and an estimated 40,000 who are unlicensed. Add to these the other types of hawker—ice cream, newspaper, general purpose or fixed pitch stallholder, and the Council is seen to be responsible for some 65,000 hawkers or, to put it in another way, the population of a town such as Colchester, all of whom earn a livelihood from street trading!! Not unnaturally such numbers pose problems of control and administration which I shall dwell on at length later, but without wishing to appear self-congratulatory, I would say that no one has seen the time and energies spent by the Hawkers Select Committee in dealing with individual cases could fail to be impressed by the Committee's care and concern for the individual hawker's interests, despite the large numbers dealt with.
Our policies, evolved over years of experience, for dealing with established stall hawkers are fair and reasonable, but for some time now I have had a growing conviction that we are losing our sense of perspective over what should and should not be allowed to cooked food stall hawkers. These stalls are allowed by law an operating area of about 60 square feet, and we have recently approved a change in the law to allow them wherever possible an extra area for 2 tables and 8 collapsible stools, thereby in effect allowing them between 80 and 100 square feet in which to operate. Despite these generous concessions, the majority persist in spreading themselves all over our streets and pavements, with as many as 20 tables in some cases, obstructing the footpath and inconveniencing the public. These full-scale restaurants in all but name are achieved for a fee of $250 per year, and the licensees have been known to complain bitterly when stern Police or Hawker Control Force measures are taken to curb their illegal extensions. No one doubts that they serve a public need for cheap meals, but it is anomalous that they should be allowed to operate on such a large scale when the Council insists on properly licensed restaurants (which moreover pay rates and taxes) confining their operations to closely defined and hygienically supervised areas. It is high time that a firm line is taken with licensees who persistently ride rough-shod over their legal obligations but are all too quick to complain of hardship when the law
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435
382
Page 228 of 382
434
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ference is planned next year to discuss all the aspects. The bathing beach at Lai Chi Kok has long been a danger to health and there is no likelihood that bathing in the harbour area will ever be possible until proper sewage disposal systems have been installed in the Colony generally. This danger is spreading as a recent Urban Council paper started off "Sewage Pollution of the bathing beaches on the south side of Hong Kong Island is causing some concern to the Council". One of the main dangers here is in the future development of Aberdeen new town, both with regard to conservancy, that euphemistic phrase, and industrial pollution. The latter not only affecting beaches but is also is a killer of marine life. Now is the time to plan suitable safe- guards so that the beaches on the south of the island do not become unusable.
Air Pollution
The Surgeon-General of the United States made a declaration three years ago that stated "There is no doubt that air pollution is a hazard to health". It also hazards buildings and agriculture. This is caused equally by industrial complexes and motor-car exhaust fumes. The leading ingredient that is a menace to health is the sulphur dioxide fumes present in all forms of smoke from oil fires and unfortunately as yet no fool-proof system of eradicating this has been found. How- ever, a start would be to make the exhaust pipes of all diesel fuel operated vehicles point upwards above the driver's cab, as is done in some Urban Council refuse lorries. Are the new incinerators being installed in Hong Kong and Kowloon of the new odourless and smoke- less variety? Recently one was opened in the United States and the local Urban Council held a luncheon on the premises when it was opened. A concern in Yorkshire is manufacturing this type and I am certain would serve Yorkshire pudding on opening day. There would be no problem then, of installing one near Kai Tak or for that matter in Kennedy Town or Cheung Sha Wan, where undoubtedly the residents will complain. Will the inhabitants of the Wah Fu Estate Pokfulam be protected from the new power station? While Hong Kong is fortunate in having a harbour and therefore open space separating Hong Kong from Kowloon, a definite smog is growing over Kowloon which might, who knows, spread to Hong Kong. This is a menace to health, eyes and to building fabrics. Although laws are in existence to control these menaces, are they being applied and if so by whom? A central Transport Commission has been formed, why not one for pollution both in the air and water?
Waterskiing
I am not so presumptuous as to think that my speech last year produced the regulations that the Marine Department brought out earlier this year. I would like to congratulate them and only hope that
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
435
those who indulge in waterskiing take the trouble to get hold of a copy of "Safety Afloat" from the Marine Department-it costs nothing -and put the advice into practice.
Hawkers
I turn now to the very real problem of hawkers, that independent, vociferous, ubiquitous and often intractable section of the community whose operations are, or should be, licensed and controlled by the Council. These street traders range from the aristocractic cooked food stallholder, of which there are 1,300-odd in the urban areas alone, to the humble pedlar selling vegetables or sundries, of which there are nearly 20,000 licensed by the Council, and an estimated 40,000 who are unlicensed. Add to these the other types of hawker-ice cream, newspaper, general purpose or fixed pitch stallholder, and the Council is seen to be responsible for some 65,000 hawkers or, to put it in another way, the population of a town such as Colchester, all of whom earn a livelihood from street trading!! Not unnaturally such numbers pose problems of control and administration which I shall dwell on at length later, but without wishing to appear self-congratulatory, I would say that no one has seen the time and energies spent by the Hawkers Select Committee in dealing with individual cases could fail to be impressed by the Committee's care and concern for the individual hawker's interests, despite the large numbers dealt with.
Our policies, evolved over years of experience, for dealing with established stall hawkers are fair and reasonable, but for some time now I have had a growing conviction that we are losing our sense of perspective over what should and should not be allowed to cooked food stall hawkers. These stalls are allowed by law an operating area of about 60 square feet, and we have recently approved a change in the law to allow them wherever possible an extra area for 2 tables and 8 collapsible stools, thereby in effect allowing them between 80 and 100 square feet in which to operate. Despite these generous concessions, the majority persist in spreading themselves all over our streets and pavements, with as many as 20 tables in some cases, obstructing the footpath and inconveniencing the public. These full-scale restaurants in all but name are achieved for a fee of $250 per year, and the licensees have been known to complain bitterly when stern Police or Hawker Control Force measures are taken to curb their illegal extensions. No one doubts that they serve a public need for cheap meals, but it is anomalous that they should be allowed to operate on such a large scale when the Council insists on properly licensed restaurants (which more- over pay rates and taxes) confining their operations to closely defined and hygienically supervised areas. It is high time that a firm line is taken with licensees who persistently ride rough-shod over their legal obligations but are all too quick to complain of hardship when the law
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