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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Returning to public housing, may I add a final thought. No one in his right senses will refuse to admit that there is a wide disparity between rich and poor in Hong Kong. However, if community leaders being aware of this will from now on unite in their efforts to narrow the gap and accelerate more social development, then surely in the years to come we will see a progressively visible improvement in the living environment of the poorer sections of our population.
One vital area in improving the living environment is in a better standard of public housing in terms of more space per person, better amenities for each flat, more recreation and education facilities within each public housing estate, and above all a higher quality of management. The overall result will be a sense of community consciousness among residents to the extent that they will want to participate and be involved in improving their living environment within the estate in which they live.
Mr. Chairman, I have much pleasure in supporting the motion. (Applause).
MR. H. M. G. FORSGATE:- Mr. Chairman, to individual Councillors, this Annual Debate is a task, and at the same time, a temptation. We are able to show off both on T.V. and in the Press, and convince our admiring public what splendid chaps we are, and what a firm grasp we have of all the problems that beset a modern metropolis like Hong Kong, and that Urban Council problems would melt away if Government would but accept our advice. Having said this, I am now about to succumb to that temptation. My main subject is topical, and I hope timely, as it affects all our lives, and much of our work on this Council. It is
Environmental Pollution
It has been said somewhere that the ideal balance between man and nature is that which man is unable to consume, Mother Nature can eventually absorb. Consider the situation today where we are rapidly sinking into a sea of manmade and industrial garbage. Having recently been in London, I can assure you this is no longer a subject for music hall jokes!! The sea itself cannot go on much longer absorbing the waste being poured and dumped into it, as man is spreading the foul oil slick over all the oceans of the world. The Norwegian Thor HEYERDAHL, who recently crossed the South Atlantic in a papyrus raft, said he could see nothing but thick coagulated oil on the surface for most of his trip. A sad commentary on the selfishness of those nations owning oil tankers and who do not subscribe to the Convention on Cleaning Oil Tankers.
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257
In Hong Kong we have at least shown our awareness of the dangers of air pollution, and the Committee on Air Pollution, with expert advice and good co-operation from the primary causes of air pollution, has made good progress. But what of the sea, the state of which, clean or otherwise, so affects the full enjoyment of Hong Kong's natural heritage and loveliest asset, our beaches.
As I see it, sea pollution presents two problems, both manmade:-
(a) the dumping of rubbish and the careless or deliberate release of oil contamination, and—
(b) the discharge of untreated sewage and industrial waste.
Rubbish and oil require both defensive and educational measures. These, I understand, are under constant review, and the Urban Services and Marine Department have shown to date they can deal most effectively with oil slicks.
The cumulative effect of our mounting sewage and industrial effluent has been raised in the Press and discussed several times with, I believe, inconclusive and conflicting opinions given by experts. However, it is significant that as a result of the strike of municipal workers in the U.K., it is being said that the release of untreated sewage direct into the Thames and other waters is causing grave damage to the ecology, that will take a long time to remedy. Industrial effluent and sewage has been under control in the U.K. and elsewhere for some time, but not here. Surely, as our industrial capacity in textiles and other manufacturing processes grows and expands, the problem will get worse; likewise the growth of our population will increase the discharge of sewage.
While most of what I say may be written off as supposition, or because the remedies are too expensive for Hong Kong, could I suggest that Government expands the terms of reference and membership of the Air Pollution Committee to include the Sea. That Committee will then be in a position to examine what all the experts are saying about the problem, and co-ordinate efforts to combat the menace of the Seventies.
Incinerators
Sir, as the measures for further controlling the plumes of smoke from the chimneys of our incinerators, outlined recently in an answer to my questions in Council were, I presume, approved by the Committee on Air Pollution, I withdraw my objections to siting further plant in Lai Chi Kok, and urge Government to press on with its erection before there is a lack of suitable dumping sites to cope with the overflow from existing incinerators. But what provision does
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Page 138 of 241
256
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Returning to public housing, may I add a final thought. No one in his right senses will refuse to admit that there is a wide disparity between rich and poor in Hong Kong. However, if community leaders being aware of this will from now on unite in their efforts to narrow the gap and accelerate more social development, then surely in the years to come we will see a progressively visible improvement in the living environment of the poorer sections of our population.
One vital area in improving the living environment is in a better standard of public housing in terms of more space per person, better amenities for each flat, more recreation and education facilities within each public housing estate, and above all a higher quality of manage- ment. The overall result will be a sense of community consciousness among residents to the extent that they will want to participate and be involved in improving their living environment within the estate in which they live.
Mr. Chairman, I have much pleasure in supporting the motion. (Applause).
MR. H. M. G. FORSGATE:-Mr. Chairman, to individual Councillors, this Annual Debate is a task, and at the same time, a temptation. We are able to show off both on T.V. and in the Press, and convince our admiring public what splendid chaps we are, and what a firm grasp we have of all the problems that beset a modern metropolis like Hong Kong, and that Urban Council problems would melt away if Government would but accept our advice. Having said this, I am now about to succumb to that temptation. My main subject is topical, and I hope timely, as if affects all our lives, and much of our work on this Council. It is
Environmental Pollution
It has been said somewhere that the ideal balance between man and nature is that which man is unable to consume, Mother Nature can eventually absorb. Consider the situation today where we are rapidly sinking into a sea of manmade and industrial garbage. Having recently been in London, I can assure you this is no longer a subject for music hall jokes!! The sea itself cannot go on much longer absorb- ing the waste being poured and dumped into it, as man is spreading the foul oil slick over all the oceans of the world. The Norweigian Thor HEYERDAHL, who recently crossed the South Atlantic in a papyrus raft, said he could see nothing but thick coagulated oil on the surface for most of his trip. A sad commentary on the selfishness of those nations owning oil tankers and who do not subscribe to the Convention on Cleaning Oil Tankers.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
257
In Hong Kong we have at least shown our awareness of the dangers of air pollution, and the Committee on Air Pollution, with expert advice and good co-operation from the primary causes of air pollution, has made good progress. But what of the sea, the state of which, clean or otherwise, so affects the full enjoyment of Hong Kong's natural heritage and loveliest asset, our beaches.
As I see it, sea pollution presents two problems, both manmade:-
(a) the dumping of rubbish and the careless or deliberate
release of oil contamination, and—
(b) the discharge of untreated sewage and industrial waste.
Rubbish and oil require both defensive and educational measures. These, I understand, are under constant review, and the Urban Services and Marine Department have shown to date they can deal most effectively with oil slicks.
The cumulative effect of our mounting sewage and industrial effluent has been raised in the Press and discussed several times with, I believe, inconclusive and conflicting opinions given by experts. How- ever, it is significant that as a result of the strike of municipal workers in the U.K., it is being said that the release of untreated sewage direct into the Thames and other waters is causing grave damage to the ecology, that will take a long time to remedy. Industrial effluent and sewage has been under control in the U.K. and elsewhere for some time, but not here. Surely, as our industrial capacity in textiles and other manufacturing processes grows and expands, the problem will get worse; likewise the growth of our population will increase the discharge of sewage.
While most of what I say may be written off as supposition, or because the remedies are too expensive for Hong Kong, could I suggest that Government expands the terms of reference and membership of the Air Pollution Committee to include the Sea. That Committee will then be in a position to examine what all the experts are saying about the problem, and co-ordinate efforts to combat the menace of the Seventies.
Incinerators
Sir, as the measures for further controlling the plumes of smoke from the chimneys of our incinerators, outlined recently in an answer to my questions in Council were, I presume, approved by the Com- mittee on Air Pollution, I withdraw my objections to siting further plant in Lai Chi Kok, and urge Government to press on with its erection before there is a lack of suitable dumping sites to cope with the overflow from existing incinerators. But what provision does
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