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One of the main difficulties has been to find a date suitable to the Members of the committee, who have many other commitments. In the case referred to a date for hearing could not be fixed until two months after the papers were ready. It is now proposed to arrange in advance a series of dates for these committees, as is done for other select committee meetings which, it is expected, will improve the position.
DR. BELL: Mr. SALES is still waiting for an answer, Mr. Chairman, to his last supplementary. Before I ask question 10, could I perhaps say to him that I did not quite think it was a question of discrimination, but it was a question of who was the weaker sex in regard to this. (Laughter),
(10) Dr. A. M. S. BELL asked the following question:
Would the Commissioner for Resettlement please inform me of the present situation regarding the refuse disposal rooms and chutes in the Mark IV resettlement blocks which were the subject of bitter complaint by residents in adjacent rooms during the hot weather last year?
MR. LI YIU-BOR, CHAIRMAN of the RESETTLEMENT MANAGEMENT SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:-
Mr. Chairman, there are altogether 36 Mark IV resettlement blocks in which the door to the refuse room faces a domestic room, and which have given rise to complaints by the tenants concerned. These doors have all been fitted with springs which, by ensuring that the doors remain shut when not in use, have improved the situation to some extent.
Most of the complaints have arisen in the twelve older Mark IV blocks. In these blocks individual water supplies are being installed, which will mean that the communal wash rooms will no longer be required. Consideration is being given to converting these wash rooms to refuse rooms, the existing refuse rooms being then converted to domestic rooms. If this scheme is approved the new refuse rooms will be located away from the domestic rooms and the nuisance will be stopped.
There have been few complaints regarding the refuse rooms in the remaining 24 blocks, which are of the later Mark IV design. It is difficult to provide a satisfactory solution for these rooms but the matter is now under examination.
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I must thank Dr. BELL for this question, and I would like to assure her that the question will be discussed at the next meeting of the Resettlement Management Select Committee.
DR. BELL: I would thank Mr. Li, and I really got the answer on a paper that was sent to us after I had asked this question. It was dated the 28th February, and I am very glad to hear it is being discussed. Do I understand, Mr. Chairman, from Mr. Li's answer that the old refuse rooms will no longer be used if the wash-room places are converted into refuse rooms?
MR. LI-I think that is the intention.
DR. BELL:-May I then know what is going to be the use that the old refuse rooms are put to?
MR. SALES: Obviously, wash-rooms. (Laughter).
MR. BERNACCHI:-Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask, has any consideration been given to a proposal that was mooted at one stage, and that was moving the door? The door is at present facing inwards, whereas if it was moved to the wall facing the hall there should not be so much nuisance, and that applies particularly to the 24 Blocks where the proposal of moving to the wash rooms is not practical?
MR. LI: Mr. Chairman, this question is a very interesting one. The possibility of changing the door from that side to another side, not facing the domestic rooms, has been explored, but there is the difficulty of conversion, and I do not know whether it is structurally possible to convert the door.
MR. BERNACCHI:-This could be further investigated at least as regards the remaining 24 Blocks?
MR. LI:-Yes.
(11) DR. A. M. S. BELL asked the following question:—
Would the Commissioner for Resettlement please give this Council the most up-to-date figures and position in relation to overcrowding in resettlement estates?
How many persons are living at less than 24 sq. ft. per person; 18 sq. ft. per person; 16 sq. ft. per person; 14 sq. ft. per person and 12 sq. ft. per person? What steps are being urgently put in hand to relieve this overcrowding so that no one is living at a density below 24 sq. ft. per person? How long does the Commissioner anticipate it will be before this can be achieved?
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
One of the main difficulties has been to find a date suitable to the Members of the committee, who have many other commitments. In the case referred to a date for hearing could not be fixed until two months after the papers were ready. It is now proposed to arrange in advance a series of dates for these committees, as is done for other select committee meetings which, it is expected, will improve the position.
DR. BELL: Mr. SALES is still waiting for an answer, Mr. Chair- man, to his last supplementary. Before I ask question 10, could I perhaps say to him that I did not quite think it was a question of discrimination, but it was a question of who was the weaker sex in regard to this. (Laughter),
(10) Dr. A. M. S. BELL asked the following question:
Would the Commissioner for Resettlement please inform me of the present situation regarding the refuse disposal rooms and chutes in the Mark IV resettlement blocks which were the subject of bitter complaint by residents in adjacent rooms during the hot weather last year?
MR. LI YIU-BOR, CHAIRMan of the RESETTLEMENT MANAGEMENT SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:-
Mr. Chairman, there are altogether 36 Mark IV resettlement blocks in which the door to the refuse room faces a domestic room, and which have given rise to complaints by the tenants concerned. These doors have all been fitted with springs which, by ensuring that the doors remain shut when not in use, have improved the situa- tion to some extent.
Most of the complaints have arisen in the twelve older Mark IV blocks. In these blocks individual water supplies are being installed, which will mean that the communal wash rooms will no longer be required. Consideration is being given to converting these wash rooms to refuse rooms, the existing refuse rooms being then converted to domestic rooms. If this scheme is approved the new refuse rooms will be located away from the domestic rooms and the nuisance will be stopped.
There have been few complaints regarding the refuse rooms in the remaining 24 blocks, which are of the later Mark IV design. It is difficult to provide a satisfactory solution for these rooms but the matter is now under examination.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
445
I must thank Dr. BELL for this question, and I would like to assure her that the question will be discussed at the next meeting of the Resettlement Management Select Committee.
DR. BELL: I would thank Mr. Li, and I really got the answer on a paper that was sent to us after I had asked this question. It was dated the 28th February, and I am very glad to hear it is being dis- cussed. Do I understand, Mr. Chairman, from Mr. Lr's answer that the old refuse rooms will no longer be used if the wash-room places are converted into refuse rooms?
MR. LI-I think that is the intention.
DR. BELL:-May I then know what is going to be the use that the old refuse rooms are put to?
MR. SALES: Obviously, wash-rooms. (Laughter).
MR. BERNACCHI:-Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask, has any consideration been given to a proposal that was mooted at one stage, and that was moving the door? The door is at present facing inwards, whereas if it was moved to the wall facing the hall there should not be so much nuisance, and that applies particularly to the 24 Blocks where the proposal of moving to the wash rooms is not practical?
MR. LI: Mr. Chairman, this question is a very interesting one. The possibility of changing the door from that side to another side, not facing the domestic rooms, has been explored, but there is the difficulty of conversion, and I do not know whether it is structurally possible to convert the door.
MR. BERNACCHI:-This could be further investigated at least as regards the remaining 24 Blocks?
MR. LI:-Yes.
(11) DR. A. M. S. BELL asked the following question:—
Would the Commissioner for Resettlement please give this Council the most up-to-date figures and position in relation to overcrowding in resettlement estates?
How many persons are living at less than 24 sq. ft. per person; 18 sq. ft. per person; 16 sq. ft. per person; 14 sq. ft. per person and 12 sq. ft. per person? What steps are being urgently put in hand to relieve this overcrowding so that no one is living at a density below 24 sq. ft. per person? How long does the Commissioner anticipate it will be before this can be achieved?
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