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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
THE CHAIRMAN, Urban Council replied as follows: —
Paragraph 76 of the Statement of Progress for 1966-67, which is among the papers laid on the table today, records that the Indoor Stadium Sub-Committee of the Parks, Recreation and Amenities Select Committee has completed its main deliberations and that progress has been made with the drafting of a Report on Indoor Stadium, Convention, Conference, Exhibition and Trade Fair Facilities. I understand that the report will suggest the Hung Hom Reclamation as the most suitable site for any complex containing such facilities. The Hong Kong Tourist Association, which has a special interest in convention facilities, has been represented on the Sub-Committee and has contributed a draft section on this subject for inclusion in the report.
The answer to the second part of the question is that there are at present no plans for using any part of the former naval Dockyard land for a convention complex. The future use of the former Dockyard land is dependent upon the revised plan which the Town Planning Board is at present preparing for publication and which has been held up by the need to await the recommendations of the Mass Transport Consultants.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN: Mr. Chairman, can the Director of Public Works advise if the recommendation of the Mass Transport Consultants is expected some time by the middle of the year, as reported recently in the Press.
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS: Yes, Mr. Chairman, they are expected to complete their report by August I believe, but the main recommendations will be in our hands by the end of June or early July.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN: In other words, it will take at least a number of months after these recommendations have been in the hands of the Town Planning Board before they can finalise the proposed recommendations for the Naval Dockyard area, in which case we can expect that the revised recommendations for the Dockyard area could be made available to the public sometime towards the second half of this year. Am I correct in that assumption?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS: I would hope so, but I could not go farther than that. A lot depends on what the Mass Transport Consultants suggest in the way of the Victoria area. If they want to have the area, it would presumably have to wait until Government decided whether or not to go ahead with an underground railway system.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
17
There are many unknown factors. I do not think one could give any categorical answer, Mr. CHEONG-LEEN, but I think one could hope that we would be able to produce a plan by the end of this year.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN: The Director of Public Works mentioned that there is a fair possibility that the Mass Transport Consultants might want to recommend complete use of the area for an underground transit. Would he care to bear in mind that this Council has already staked a claim on a reasonable area of that land?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS: Mr. Chairman, may I make one statement. I do not think I implied that the Mass Transport Consultants would want the whole area, I said that they might, which is a very different thing. I would hate to give the impression that they are likely to want the whole area for an underground railway station.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN: In which case, Mr. Chairman, I will assume that they would.
(9) MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:—
(a) To what extent does the Urban Services Department pay attention to complaints and suggestions concerning the Department's work appearing in the Correspondence Column of the Chinese language newspapers?
(b) Does the Department reply to complaints in the Correspondence Column of the Chinese newspapers in the same way that complaints appearing in the Correspondence Column of the English language newspapers are so promptly acted on and replied to? If not, what steps will be taken to correct this so as to bring the Urban Council closer to the public?
THE CHAIRMAN, Urban Council replied as follows: -
It is the policy and practice of the Urban Services Department to pay careful attention to everything concerning the department that appears in Chinese language newspapers, whether in the form of news items, editorial comment or readers' letters. The department subscribes to 12 Chinese language newspapers and these are checked through the moment they are received. Cuttings are quickly passed to the appropriate officer for study and for any action that is required. In most cases press cuttings in Chinese go direct to Chinese-speaking officers, particularly Assistant Superintendents and Executive Officers, who are...
Page 18 of 259
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(To be continued)
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Page 17 of 259
16
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
THE CHAIRMAN, Urban Council replied as follows: —
Paragraph 76 of the Statement of Progress for 1966-67, which is among the papers laid on the table today, records that the Indoor Stadium Sub-Committee of the Parks, Recrea- tion and Amenities Select Committee has completed its main deliberations and that progress has been made with the drafting of a Report on Indoor Stadium, Convention, Conference, Exhibition and Trade Fair Facilities. understand that the report will suggest the Hung Hom Reclamation as the most suitable site for any complex containing such facilities. The Hong Kong Tourist Association, which has a special interest in convention facilities, has been represented on the Sub-Committee and has contributed a draft section on this subject for inclusion in the report.
I
The answer to the second part of the question is that there are at present no plans for using any part of the former naval Dockyard land for a convention complex. The future use of the former Dockyard land is dependent upon the revised plan which the Town Planning Board is at present preparing for publication and which has been held up by the need to await the recommendations of the Mass Transport Consultants.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN: Mr. Chairman, can the Director of Public Works advise if the recommendation of the Mass Transport Consultants is expected some time by the middle of the year, as reported recently in the Press.
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS: Yes, Mr. Chairman, they are ex- pected to complete their report by August I believe, but the main recommendations will be in our hands by the end of June or early July.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-In other words, it will take at least a number of months after these recommendations have been in the hands of the Town Planning Board before they can finalise the proposed recom- mendations for the Naval Dockyard area, in which case we can expect that the revised recommendations for the Dockyard area could be made available to the public sometime towards the second half of this year. Am I correct in that assumption?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS:-I would hope so, but I could not go farther than that. A lot depends on what the Mass Transport Con- sultants suggest in the way of the Victoria area. If they want to have the area, it would presumably have to wait until Government decided whether or not to go ahead with an underground railway system.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
17
There are many unknown factors. I do not think one could give any categorical answer, Mr. CHEONG-LEEN, but I think one could hope that we would be able to produce a plan by the end of this year.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-The Director of Public Works mentioned that there is a fair possibility that the Mass Transport Consultants might want to recommend complete use of the area for an underground transit. Would he care to bear in mind that this Council has already staked a claim on a reasonable area of that land?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS: Mr. Chairman, may I make one statement. I do not think I implied that the Mass Transport Con- sultants would want the whole area, I said that they might, which is a very different thing. I would hate to give the impression that they are likely to want the whole area for an underground railway station.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-In which case, Mr. Chairman, I will assume that they would.
(9) MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:—
(a) To what extent does the Urban Services Department pay attention to complaints and suggestions concerning the Department's work appearing in the Correspondence Column of the Chinese language newspapers?
(b) Does the Department reply to complaints in the Cor- respondence Column of the Chinese newspapers in the same way that complaints appearing in the Correspond- ence Column of the English language newspapers are so promptly acted on and replied to? If not, what steps will be taken to correct this so as to bring the Urban Council closer to the public?
THE CHAIRMAN, Urban Council replied as follows: -
It is the policy and practice of the Urban Services Department to pay careful attention to everything concerning the department that appears in Chinese language newspapers, whether in the form of news items, editorial comment or readers' letters. The department subscribes to 12 Chinese language newspapers and these are checked through the moment they are received. Cuttings are quickly passed to the appropriate officer for study and for any action that is required. In most cases press cuttings in Chinese go direct to Chinese-speaking officers, particularly Assist- ant Superintendents and Executive Officers, who are ex-
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