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Their charge at least twice a day. They are also responsible for clearing minor chokages and for reporting any other defects which they find.
Public ablution areas and lavatories are provided with lighting in the form of 25-watt bulbs. The use of more powerful bulbs has been tried, but it was found to add considerably to electricity costs without producing any marked improvement.
In reply to the second part of this question, the design of Mark I blocks did not include the provision of separate cooking facilities, and it is difficult to see how sufficient space could be found for this purpose at this stage. Early last year, the Resettlement Management Select Committee endorsed proposals to encourage tenants to adopt a standard "cooking cupboard" or box designed to make cooking in a limited space safer and cleaner, and to be used inside domestic rooms. I am afraid that this has met with very limited success. While it is true that the external balcony in Mark I and II blocks is the only means of access to the stairs from the domestic rooms, there are stairs at each end and in the centre of the block, so that, in the event of a fire, there is always one safe escape route. I cannot recall a single case of a fatality resulting from a fire in or outside a domestic room in a Mark I or II estate, nor one in which residents were cut off from any means of escape.
MR. NG:- Mr. Chairman, can the Commissioner for Resettlement inform this Council what is the ratio of toilets to population per floor in our Mark I Estates?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS:- Mr. Chairman, they are below the new standards laid down in the Building Regulations, but they were built before the new Regulations came into force.
MR. NG:- Mr. Chairman, in such a case, could the number of toilets be increased so that they will not be over-used, and thereby be easier to keep clean?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- I think, Mr. Chairman, I would need notice of that question. Whether there is room for additional compartments in the available accommodation, and whether the plumbing could be suitably adapted would need to be looked into. I would be glad to give Mr. NG a reply in writing at a later date.
MR. NG: Mr. Chairman, I would also like to know if the contract for cleansing is being farmed out to private persons, including the cleansing of our toilets?
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COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- The cleansing contracts which have been let are in respect of Mark IV Estates, or sections of Estates where there are individual toilets on the balcony of each room. We did try a contract once in two Estates where there were communal lavatories, but it was a dismal failure, and the contract had to be terminated after twelve days.
MR. NG: Mr. Chairman, still concerning the number of the toilets, would it be possible to decant or move some families away from the Mark I Estates so as to give more room for toilets?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- That, of course, is always a possibility, but I do not know whether the Management Committee, of which Mr. NG is a member, would be prepared to enforce termination of a number of tenancies in order to make this possible.
MR. BERNACCHI:- Can the Commissioner say whether, in the Mark I conversion to self-contained units, there is included provision for separate cooking and toilet facilities?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- Yes, these facilities are available in the Mark I blocks which were built as self-contained flats, and I think it would be the intention to provide them in any ordinary Mark I blocks which might be converted in future.
MR. BERNACCHI: So, is it the position that, in future, we can expect gradual conversion, doing away with communal kitchens and communal lavatories?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- In point of fact, Mr. Chairman, there are no communal kitchens, but otherwise I hope that Mr. BERNACCHI's forecast will come to pass.
MR. NG:- Mr. Chairman, may I ask one more supplementary concerning a communal kitchen? Is it possible to provide it somewhere in the estate, because although the Commissioner said there has been no fatality, because of the escape routes, it does not mean that it could not happen with so many families cooking in the corridor with open fires?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- Certainly, I would be glad to look into that suggestion, Mr. Chairman. Two points occurred to me. I understand that in one early Government low-cost housing estate, communal kitchens were provided and were not popular, and the other question, of course, is provision of flues, which might be a difficult and expensive alteration to make to existing blocks.
MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, I would ask one supplementary through you. In the Mark I and Mark II blocks where the toilet is communal, is the flushing system more effective than in other blocks in which the
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Page 88 of 259
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their charge at least twice a day. They are also respon- sible for clearing minor chokages and for reporting any other defects which they find.
Public ablution areas and lavatories are provided with lighting in the form of 25 watt bulbs. The use of more powerful bulbs has been tried, but it was found to add considerably to electricity costs without producing any marked improve-
ment.
In reply to the second part of this question, the design of Mark I blocks did not include the provision of separate cooking facilities and it is difficult to see how sufficient space could be found for this purpose at this stage. Early last year, the Resettlement Management Select Committee endorsed proposals to encourage tenants to adopt a standard "cooking cupboard" or box designed to make cooking in a limited space safer and cleaner, and to be used inside domestic rooms. I am afraid that this has met with very limited success. While it is true that the external balcony in Mark I and II blocks is the only means of access to the stairs from the domestic rooms, there are stairs at each end and in the centre of the block so that, in the event of a fire, there is always one safe escape route. I cannot recall a single case of a fatality resulting from a fire in or outside a domestic room in a Mark I or II estate, nor one in which residents were cut off from any means of escape.
MR. NG:-Mr. Chairman, can the Commissioner for Resettlement inform this Council what is the ratio of toilets to population per floor in our Mark I Estates?
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS:-Mr. Chairman, they are below the new standards laid down in the Building Regulations, but they were built before the new Regulations came into force.
MR. NG:-Mr. Chairman, in such a case, could the number of toilets be increased so that they will not be over-used, and thereby be easier to keep clean?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-I think, Mr. Chairman, I would need notice of that question. Whether there is room for addi- tional compartments in the available accommodation, and whether the plumbing could be suitably adapted would need to be looked into. I would be glad to give Mr. No a reply in writing at a later date.
MR. NG: Mr. Chairman, I would also like to know if the contract for cleansing is being farmed out to private persons, including the cleansing of our toilets?
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
155
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-The cleansing contracts which have been let are in respect of Mark IV Estates, or sections of Estates where there are individual toilets on the balcony of each room, We did try a contract once in two Estates where there were communal lava- tories, but it was a dismal failure and the contract had to be terminated after twelve days.
MR. NG: Mr. Chairman, still concerning the number of the toilets, would it be possible to decant or move some families away from the Mark I Estates so as to give more room for toilets?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-That, of course, is always a possibility, but I do not know whether the Management Committee, of which Mr. NG is a member, would be prepared to enforce termination of a number of tenancies in order to make this possible.
MR. BERNACCHI :--Can the Commissioner say whether, in the Mark I conversion to self-contained units, there is included provision for separate cooking and toilet facilities?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:----Yes, these facilities are avail- able in the Mark I blocks which were built as self-contained flats, and I think it would be the intention to provide them in any ordinary Mark I blocks which might be converted in future.
MR. BERNACCHI: So, is it the position that, in future, we can expect gradual conversion, doing away with communal kitchens and communal lavatories?
COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-In point of fact, Mr. Chair- man, there are no communal kitchens, but otherwise I hope that Mr. BERNACCHI'S forecast will come to pass.
MR. NG:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask one more supplementary con- cerning a communal kitchen? Is it possible to provide it somewhere in the estate, because although the Commissioner said there has been no fatality, because of the escape routes, it does not mean that it could not happen with so many families cooking in the corridor with open fires?
COMMISSIONER for ResettlEMENT: -Certainly, I would be glad to look into that suggestion, Mr. Chairman. Two points occurred to me. I understand that in one early Government low-cost housing estate communal kitchens were provided and were not popular, and the other question, of course, is provision of flues, which might be a difficult and expensive alteration to make to existing blocks.
MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, I would ask one supplementary through you. In the Mark I and Mark II blocks where the toilet is communal, is the flushing system more effective than in other blocks in which the
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