Page 47 of 279
72
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:-
This resite area at present accommodates 888 persons, most of whom are former occupants of dangerous buildings closed by Court order.
2.
3.
Resite areas (or rather Class I and II areas as they will shortly be known) are by their nature temporary affairs with a limited life. They normally consist of flat formed sites made available for a year or two for resiting. When the area is needed for development, all the huts on it are cleared. Because it would be neither a practicable nor economic proposition to provide permanent facilities in these temporary resite areas, none of them has had public lighting installed. I understand that in any event the programme for new public lighting in fully developed areas is under considerable pressure. It is therefore most unlikely that it could be extended to cover temporary resite areas in the near future.
Furthermore, the life of the Morrison Hill resite area is now coming to a close. It is due to be cleared in the next few months to make way for development. I appreciate that conditions in resite areas are far from ideal, but they are by and large the best that can be done within the limits of the money available and their temporary life.
(7) MR. HENRY H. L. Hu asked the following question:
Would the Chairman inform the Council what is the actual position of a motion which is debated but laid on the table? e.g. the Motion for the creation of Hong Kong Citizenship which was laid on the table after the debate at the June Meeting of the Council last year. Can such a Motion be debated again? If so, then what is the proper procedure to be followed?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
Standing Orders do not make provision for laying a motion on the table and this is possibly because it is an accepted committee procedure. As I understand it, the effect of laying a motion on the table is to place it in the charge of the Secretary until such time as Members wish to raise the motion again.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
73
Again, Standing Orders do not lay down how a motion which has been laid on the table, can be resurrected. In the circumstances I would suggest that the fundamental rule of a majority vote should apply.
MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, I don't quite understand the last paragraph of the answer. If possible could you give us a more clear answer?
CHAIRMAN: Mr. BERNACCHI, you were about to rise. Were you going to question my answer?
MR. BERNACCHI: Perhaps, Mr. Chairman, I was going to raise a supplementary. In fact Standing Orders do make provision for raising a motion a second time, and presumably when a sufficient number of months has elapsed any motion can be re-proposed, despite the fact that it was previously laid on the table.
MR. SALES: May I, with your permission Sir, answer Mr. Henry Hu and Mr. BERNACCHI at one and the same time?
The correct procedure would be for Mr. Hu to move a motion to take his previous question from the table and, when that is seconded and passed by a simple majority, it becomes a motion once again and can be discussed at any given time. That is far easier than to introduce a new motion when there is already a motion laid on the table.
MR. HU: Thank you very much Mr. SALES for your very good answer. (Laughter)
MR. SALES: Sir, I might say that I have always invited Mr. Henry Hu to come and sit with us on this side of the table. Today more than ever that invitation is pressed forward. (Laughter)
(8) MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:
(a) Can this Council take steps to prohibit smoking in cinemas during performances as is already the case with the City Hall concert hall?
(b) Alternatively can steps be taken to request cinema operators to reserve part of the seats for smokers during performances?
DR. P. F. Woo, CHAIRMAN OF THE HEALTH EDUCATION SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:-
In regard to the first part of the question, the competent authority for the licensing of cinemas is the Police, and the Council has no authority to prohibit smoking in cinemas
Page 47 of 279
1279
Page 47 of 27%
Page 47 of 279
72
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:-
This resite area at present accommodate 888 persons, most of whom are former occupants of dangerous buildings closed by Court order.
2.
3.
Resite areas (or rather Class I and II areas as they will shortly be known) are by their nature temporary affairs with a limited life. They normally consist of flat formed sites made available for a year or two for resiting. When the area is needed for development, all the huts on it are cleared. Because it would be neither a practicable nor economic proposition to provide permanent facilities in these temporary resite areas, none of them has had public lighting installed. I understand that in any event the programme for new public lighting in fully developed areas is under considerable pressure. It is therefore most unlikely that it could be extended to cover temporary resite areas in the near future.
Furthermore, the life of the Morrison Hill resite area is now coming to a close. It is due to be cleared in the next few months to make way for development. I appreciate that conditions in resite areas are far from ideal, but they are by and large the best that can be done within the limits of the money available and their temporary life.
(7) MR. HENRY H. L. Hu asked the following question:
Would the Chairman inform the Council what is the actual position of a motion which is debated but laid on the table? e.g. the Motion for the creation of Hong Kong Citizenship which was laid on the table after the debate at the June Meeting of the Council last year. Can such a Motion be debated again? If so, then what is the proper procedure to be followed?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
Standing Orders do not make provision for laying a motion on the table and this is possibly because it is an accepted committee procedure. As I understand it, the effect of laying a motion on the table is to place it in the charge of the Secretary until such time as Members wish to raise the motion again.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
73
Again, Standing Orders do not lay down how a motion which has been laid on the table, can be resurrected. In the circumstances I would suggest that the fundamental rule of a majority vote should apply.
MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, I don't quite understand the last para- graph of the answer. If possible could you give us a more clear answer?
CHAIRMAN: Mr. BERNACCHI, you were about to rise. Were you going to question my answer?
MR. BERNACCHI:-Perhaps, Mr. Chairman, I was going to raise a supplementary. In fact Standing Orders do make provision for raising a motion a second time, and presumably when a sufficient number of months has elapsed any motion can be re-proposed, despite the fact that it was previously laid on the table.
MR. SALES: May I, with your permission Sir, answer Mr. Henry Hu and Mr. BERNACCHI at one and the same time?
The correct pro- cedure would be for Mr. Hu to move a motion to take his previous question from the table and, when that is seconded and passed by a simple majority, it becomes a motion once again and can be discussed at any given time. That is far easier than to introduce a new motion when there is already a motion laid on the table.
MR. HU: --Thank you very much Mr. SALES for your very good answer. (Laughter)
MR. SALES:—Sir, I might say that I have always invited Mr. Henry Hu to come and sit with us on this side of the table. Today more than ever that invitation is pressed forward. (Laughter)
(8) MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:
(a) Can this Council take steps to prohibit smoking in cinemas during performances as is already the case with the City Hall concert hall?
(b) Alternatively can steps be taken to request cinema opera- tors to reserve part of the seats for smokers during per- formances?
DR. P. F. Woo, CHAIRMAN OF THE HEALTH EDUCATION SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:-
In regard to the first part of the question, the competent authority for the licensing of cinemas is the Police, and the Council has no authority to prohibit smoking in cinemas
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.