Page 147 d.
Page 147 of 279
268
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Housing Authority and Government Low Cost Housing estates delegated to District Councils, although this does not appear among the list of subjects to be so delegated in paragraph 21. The preamble to the latter paragraph indicates that the Greater Hong Kong Council would reserve the right to intervene in and co-ordinate the work of District Councils. Paragraphs 19 and 33 envisage the eventual creation of a Department of Housing with a Director at its head who would in due course become a member of the Greater Hong Kong Council. In the interim period, the Commissioner for Resettlement would not be a member of the Greater Hong Kong Council, but would be represented on the District Councils. It is not clear who, in the absence of a Director of Housing, would answer for the administration of resettlement in the Greater Council as evidently the Directors of certain other departments would do within their own spheres. Nor is the position of the Housing Authority and the Commissioner for Housing made clear. Presumably the Authority, established by Ordinance No. 18 of 1954, would eventual-ly disappear and the Ordinance would be repealed when a Housing Department is formed, and the new Councils would not take over responsibility for Housing Authority and Government Low Cost Hous-ing estates until that occurred. It seems to me that, until and unless a department of housing is formed which embraces Resettlement as well as the Housing Authority and Government Low Cost Housing Estates, it would be necessary for the Commissioner for Resettlement to be a member of the Greater Council, if such a body is formed. Clearly, the structural arrangements in regard to housing in this report require to be spelt out in more detail and with greater precision. I would add in passing that I personally am not convinced of the wisdom of having one department of housing embracing all three types of estates, and the report is silent about the other functions of the Resettle-ment Department which take up a considerable part of its time and manpower.
If I may appear to have been critical of certain aspects of the report, my purpose has been, in the limited time available, to suggest that, once Government has decided in broad outline what structural and functional changes are to take place, a great deal remains to be done in the way of detailed planning for these changes and in organizing their implementation in a phased programme that will cause the minimum disturbance to the life of the community or disruption of the services which the public already enjoy.
MR. MARDEN:-Mr. Chairman: -Revolution. This is a strong word but it is only through revolutions that radical changes are made. They need not be accompanied by bloodshed and more often than not come from within the system rather than from imposition by an outside source. The report of the Ad Hoc Committee comes from within and is a reasonable compromise between the more revolutionary ideas of the elected members and the far from reactionary ideas of the appointed members.
Revolutions usually occur when a particular system of government has become outmoded or out of touch with the people at that particular time and place. That this time has come in Hong Kong is emphasized by the very poor response of the people in Hong Kong, albeit a very small portion of the people in Hong Kong, to the new electoral roll. Why vote for a body that has so limited powers and with it respon-sibilities, and has no means of providing the means to carry out those powers and responsibilities.
Some of us may have misgivings on whether or not one particular department or another should be added to the scope of the proposed Greater Hong Kong Council or subtracted therefrom but most of us believe that some change should be forthcoming and that that change when it comes about should be a complete one and not brought about piecemeal.
The New Territories is a separate problem but that is dealt with by putting it into a separate District Council of its own.
I am not going to dwell on the pros and cons of whether or not individual departments should or should not form part of the whole but would like to emphasize that one of the major problems facing any change is one of finance, as pointed out in part VIII of the Ad Hoc Committee's report. Over the years central governments have exercised more or less control over local governmental authorities by means of controlling the purse strings. Even at this moment there is in the U.K. a Royal Commission on Local Government with one of its main objects to try and solve the problem of reducing their dependence on the Central Government. In the U.K. local governments receive some 53% of their total income from the Exchequer whereas in Canada and Italy only 10% comes from the national exchequer and so with it lesser control.
Very careful consideration will have to be given in working out the right way to supply the cash-over and above the rates which it will be essential to have and control in the running of the Greater Hong Kong Council without having too many strings attached, and possibly these strings can be used as bargaining points by giving up some of the powers asked for in exchange for complete freedom in the powers retained.
There will also be other problems than finance to contend with from higher authorities and it is essential that these are ironed out at
269
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 148 of 279
270
Page 147 d.
279
Page 147 of 279
268
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Housing Authority and Government Low Cost Housing estates delegated to District Councils, although this does not appear among the list of subjects to be so delegated in paragraph 21. The preamble to the latter paragraph indicates that the Greater Hong Kong Council would reserve the right to intervene in and co-ordinate the work of District Councils. Paragraphs 19 and 33 envisage the eventual creation of a Department of Housing with a Director at its head who would in due course become a member of the Greater Hong Kong Council. In the interim period, the Commissioner for Resettlement would not be a member of the Greater Hong Kong Council, but would be represented on the District Councils. It is not clear who, in the absence of a Director of Housing, would answer for the administration of resettlement in the Greater Council as evidently the Directors of certain other departments would do within their own spheres. Nor is the position of the Housing Authority and the Commissioner for Housing made clear. Presumably the Authority, established by Ordinance No. 18 of 1954, would eventual- ly disappear and the Ordinance would be repealed when a Housing Department is formed, and the new Councils would not take over responsibility for Housing Authority and Government Low Cost Hous- ing estates until that occurred. It seems to me that, until and unless a department of housing is formed which embraces Resettlement as well as the Housing Authority and Government Low Cost Housing Estates, it would be necessary for the Commissioner for Resettlement to be a member of the Greater Council, if such a body is formed. Clearly, the structural arrangements in regard to housing in this report require to be spelt out in more detail and with greater precision. I would add in passing that I personally am not convinced of the wisdom of having one department of housing embracing all three types of estates, and the report is silent about the other functions of the Resettle- ment Department which take up a considerable part of its time and manpower.
If I may appear to have been critical of certain aspects of the report, my purpose has been, in the limited time available, to suggest that, once Government has decided in broad outline what structural and functional changes are to take place, a great deal remains to be done in the way of detailed planning for these changes and in organizing their implementation in a phased programme that will cause the minimum disturbance to the life of the community or disruption of the services which the public already enjoy.
MR. MARDEN:-Mr. Chairman: -Revolution. This is a strong word but it is only through revolutions that radical changes are made. They need not be accompanied by bloodshed and more often than not come from within the system rather than from imposition by an outside
І
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
269
source. The report of the Ad Hoc Committee comes from within and is a reasonable compromise between the more revolutionary ideas of the elected members and the far from reactionary ideas of the appointed members.
Revolutions usually occur when a particular system of government has become outmoded or out of touch with the people at that particular time and place. That this time has come in Hong Kong is emphasized by the very poor response of the people in Hong Kong, albeit a very small portion of the people in Hong Kong, to the new electoral roll. Why vote for a body that has so limited powers and with it respon- sibilities, and has no means of providing the means to carry out those powers and responsibilities.
Some of us may have misgivings on whether or not one particular department or another should be added to the scope of the proposed Greater Hong Kong Council or subtracted therefrom but most of us believe that some change should be forthcoming and that that change when it comes about should be a complete one and not brought about piecemeal.
The New Territories is a separate problem but that is dealt with by putting it into a separate District Council of its own.
I am not going to dwell on the pros and cons of whether or not individual departments should or should not form part of the whole but would like to emphasize that one of the major problems facing any change is one of finance, as pointed out in part VIII of the Ad Hoc Committee's report. Over the years central governments have exercised more or less control over local governmental authorities by means of controlling the purse strings. Even at this moment there is in the U.K. a Royal Commission on Local Government with one of its main objects to try and solve the problem of reducing their dependence on the Central Government. In the U.K. local governments receive some 53% of their total income from the Exchequer whereas in Canada and Italy only 10% comes from the national exchequer and so with it lesser control.
Very careful consideration will have to be given in working out the right way to supply the cash-over and above the rates which it will be essential to have and control in the running of the Greater Hong Kong Council without having too many strings attached, and possibly these strings can be used as bargaining points by giving up some of the powers asked for in exchange for complete freedom in the powers retained.
There will also be other problems than finance to contend with from higher authorities and it is essential that these are ironed out at
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.