Page 94 of 237
166
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
by your staff not without great sacrifice of time and the willingness to give up their summer holidays so that the programmes could be put into effect. For this reason, Sir, I am quite sure that all my Colleagues would like me to ask you to convey to your staff our appreciation for the good work that they did.
QUESTIONS.
(1) MR. A. de O. SALES asked the following question:-
(a) Will the Director of Public Works tell this Council what plans there are for Lai Chi Kok Bay?
(b) Is it intended to fill it in?
(c) If so, will the reclamation be used as public open space and for other community purposes, having regard to the heavy population in North West Kowloon and the surrounding areas?
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS replied as follows:-
Mr. Chairman, with the completion of the Lai Chi Kok bridge and the Coastal Road link to Tsuen Wan, the Public Works Department has no immediate plans for further works in Lai Chi Kok Bay. Long term plans provide for the reclamation of the bay in stages and its development for open space and recreation purposes, but there is no plan to reclaim the Bay within the foreseeable future in view of the very heavy expenditure involved. The level of the low lying areas on the northern shore of the bay would have to be raised before the bay could be reclaimed and this would affect the amusement park and parts of the Kau Wah Keng Valley.
However when designing the Lai Chi Kok Bridge the future reclamation was kept in mind. The bridge levels were planned so that filling can be placed in the sea beneath the bridge which will form an elevated road leaving free access underneath to the land on the seaward side of the bridge.
MR. SALES: --Sir, I would like to thank the Director of Public Works for his reply.
(2) MR. A. de O. SALES asked the following question:-
(a) May this Council know whether the re-organization of your Recreation and Amenities Division is proceeding satisfactorily?
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
167
(b) Could you please set out the posts which have been established under the new scheme and state whether recruitment is up to strength?
(c) What training opportunities are afforded to your staff, here and abroad, as may be required?
THE CHAIRMAN, URBAN COUNCIL, replied as follows:-
The answer to the first part of the question is that I am reasonably satisfied with the progress that has been made to date. I hope this will be evident from my reply to the other two parts of the question.
The re-organization provides for three basic staff categories known as Amenities Officers; Amenities Assistants and Minor Staff. I believe that this framework is the correct sort of framework for our needs in the Recreation and Amenities Division but our job now is to train local officers to fit it.
To save Members' time, I am tabling a statement (Appendix I) which shows the number of posts which we have at present in each of the categories of staff together with details of the present strength and salary scales. At the foot of the statement, there are a number of additional posts which are deployed in the Recreation and Amenities Division, but which are not at present included in the "Amenities Officer" category. These are Executive Officer posts some of which will ultimately be replaced by Amenities Officer posts of the appropriate class. The point here is that we cannot create a new Officer class as we have, and expect to fill it immediately with specialists in this field. We have therefore leant heavily on the general Executive Grade to supply us with middle managers at the appropriate level in the first instance. One of the Senior Executive Officers is at present employed wholly on beach and swimming pool management; another Senior Executive Officer is employed in the entertainment section and a third is at present employed in a central administrative capacity. One Junior Executive Officer is at present responsible for the management of the Council's parks and playgrounds and another for planning and development. I cannot at this stage forecast when the Executive Officer posts will be converted to Amenities Officer posts. This depends so much on the training and development of suitable recruits. However, I have the assurance of the Establishment Officer that the serving Executive Officers will not be moved by him in the fore-
Page 94 of 237
Page 94 of 237
166
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
by your staff not without great sacrifice of time and the willingness to give up their summer holidays so that the programmes could be put into effect. For this reason, Sir, I am quite sure that all my Colleagues would like me to ask you to convey to your staff our appreciation for the good work that they did.
QUESTIONS.
(1) MR. A. de O. SALES asked the following question:-
(a) Will the Director of Public Works tell this Council what
plans there are for Lai Chi Kok Bay?
(b) Is it intended to fill it in?
(c) If so, will the reclamation be used as public open space and for other community purposes, having regard to the heavy population in North West Kowloon and the surrounding areas?
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS replied as follows:-
Mr. Chairman, with the completion of the Lai Chi Kok bridge and the Coastal Road link to Tsuen Wan, the Public Works Department has no immediate plans for further works in Lai Chi Kok Bay. Long term plans provide for the reclamation of the bay in stages and its development for open space and recreation purposes, but there is no plan to reclaim the Bay within the foreseeable future in view of the very heavy expenditure involved. The level of the low lying areas on the northern shore of the bay would have to be raised before the bay could be reclaimed and this would affect the amusement park and parts of the Kau Wah Keng Valley.
However when designing the Lai Chi Kok Bridge the future reclamation was kept in mind. The bridge levels were planned so that filling can be placed in the sea beneath the bridge which will form an elevated road leaving free access underneath to the land on the seaward side of the bridge.
MR. SALES: --Sir, I would like to thank the Director of Public Works for his reply.
(2) MR. A. de O. SALES asked the following question:-
(a) May this Council know whether the re-organization of your Recreation and Amenities Division is proceeding satisfactorily?
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
167
(b) Could you please set out the posts which have been established under the new scheme and state whether recruitment is up to strength?
(c) What training opportunities are afforded to your staff,
here and abroad, as may be required?
THE CHAIRMAN, URBAN COUNCIL, replied as follows:-
The answer to the first part of the question is that I am reasonably satisfied with the progress that has been made to date. I hope this will be evident from my reply to the other two parts of the question.
The re-organization provides for three basic staff categories known as Amenities Officers; Amenities Assistants and Minor Staff. I believe that this framework is the correct sort of framework for our needs in the Recreation and Amenities Division but our job now is to train local officers to fit it.
To save Members' time, I am tabling a statement (Appendix I) which shows the number of posts which we have at present in each of the categories of staff together with details of the present strength and salary scales. At the foot of the statement, there are a number of additional posts which are deployed in the Recreation and Amenities Division, but which are not at present included in the "Amenities Officer" category. These are Executive Officer posts some of which will ultimately be replaced by Amenities Officer posts of the appropriate class. The point here is that we cannot create a new Officer class as we have, and expect to fill it immediately with specialists in this field. We have therefore leant heavily on the general Executive Grade to supply us with middle managers at the appropriate level in the first instance. One of the Senior Executive Officers is at present employed wholly on beach and swimming pool management; another Senior Executive Officer is employed in the entertainment section and a third is at present employed in a central administrative capacity. One Junior Executive Officer is at present responsible for the management of the Council's parks and playgrounds and another for planning and development. I cannot at this stage forecast when the Executive Officer posts will be converted to Amenities Officer posts. This depends so much on the training and development of suitable recruits. However, I have the assurance of the Establishment Officer that the serving Executive Officers will not be moved by him in the fore-
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.