1969 — Page 68

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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, surely Mr. BERNACCHI, Chairman of the Policy Select Committee on Resettlement, must at some time or other consider central air conditioning for the Mark VII. After all it is in keeping with Hong Kong's affluent conditions.

MR. C. K. CHAN:-I would like to ask the Commissioner to imagine that in the history of the resettlement planning, how many instances he has encountered of people having installed air conditioners illegally. That is against the regulations. Can he quote any?

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:—No, Sir, I need notice of that question.

MR. C. K. CHAN:-I have a newspaper cutting from the Kung Sheung Yat Pao the other day saying that Block 7, 1st Floor, No. 85, has an air conditioner installed there and I wonder what kind of step would be taken in a case like this if the Department encountered one?

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:----Sir, I am not sure if this is a minor supplementary question; I am not sure that it is in order; it seems to have strayed very considerably from the original paper. However, if Mr. CHAN could give me the details I will certainly look into this case.

MR. BERNACCHI : -I have a second supplementary myself to ask you, Mr. Chairman, or the Commissioner for Resettlement. The Commissioner says in his first sentence, since 1964 domestic tenants in Resettlement Estates have not been allowed to install air conditioners. Now, the question is divided into two parts. Question one is, are the domestic tenants who have had air conditioners previous to 1964 allowed to keep them?

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-As far as I can recollect, Sir. I would really need notice of this question to give an adequate reply, but, to the best of my recollection, they are tolerated.

MR. BERNACCHI :-The other part of my question is, was this policy decision taken by this Council through the Resettlement Policy Select Committee?

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:--There again, I imagine it was, but I would have to check to make absolutely certain.

MR. BERNACCHI:--Perhaps the Commissioner could give me a letter on that?

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT: --Certainly.

MRS. ELLIOTT:---Mr. Chairman, may I ask if Mr. CHAN's suggestion that an investigation be made by the people who want the air conditioners and the cost, may be carried out so that, if in the next few years we change our Victorian ideas, we shall know a lot more about it. Victorian ideas about how we should treat the poor.

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MRS. ELLIOTT:-Sir?

MR. SALES: Why not have central air conditioning as I suggested,

CHAIRMAN:-I think we ought to leave this to the Resettlement Department; we hope it may be covered in their papers.

MR. BERNACCHI :-Resettlement Department and the Policy Select Committee.

MR. WU:-Mr. Chairman, first of all I must declare my interest. Secondly, I only want to say that Dr. HUANG was wrong in saying that an air conditioner for a resettlement room would consume $60 electricity, I think $30 would be more realistic.

MR. BERNACCHI :-Perhaps, Mr. Wu would care to attend when this question is reconsidered, because I myself am very much concerned over the other suggestion made by Dr. HUANG, namely, that use of air conditioning by some tenants would cause a nuisance to the other tenants. I entirely agree with Mr. SALES that if possible the whole of a block in the Resettlement Estate should be air conditioned, but whether or not that is practical from the cost point of view, I do not know. But on the other hand, individual air conditioners in individual premises could, I imagine, cause very great nuisance to the people who have no air conditioners.

MR. FORSGATE: Mr. Chairman, there is a suggestion that we put a dome over an estate so that everybody inside would be nicely air conditioned and possibly we could wait until then.

MOTION.

MR. WILSON T. S. WANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE ABATTOIRS AND OFFENSIVE TRADES SELECT COMMITTEE, moved the following motion: ---

"That the Abattoirs (Amendment) By-laws, 1969 be made under Section 77 of the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance (Chapter 132)."

He said:

Mr. Chairman, I rise to move the motion standing in my name, namely, that the Abattoirs (Amendment) By-laws, 1969, be made under Section 77 of the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance (Cap. 132).

As Members are aware, the new Cheung Sha Wan Abattoir is now complete, and it is hoped to bring it into operation on 1st August, 1969. The purpose of the amendment is to add the name of the Cheung Sha Wan Abattoir to the First Schedule to the Abattoirs By-laws. The

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