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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
(5) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:—
(a) What action is being taken against illegal activities such as gambling, drug-trafficking and robbery in the Kowloon Bay Resite Area?
(b) In view of the constant reports by letter, by ward visit, and by people during visits to Kowloon Bay, what are the possibilities of the people of the area being resettled soon?
(c) Is the Commissioner aware that empty huts left standing attract these illegal activities? If so, what is being done about these huts?
THE CHAIRMAN, URBAN COUNCIL, IN THE ABSENCE OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT, replied as follows:-
Action against illegal activities in Kowloon Bay, or elsewhere, is the responsibility of the Police. Any reports on such activities received by the Resettlement Department are passed on to the Police.
Families in the Kowloon Bay Class II licensed area are not eligible for resettlement unless the site they occupy is required for a public purpose. I can only trace one request for resettlement in this area which, because of the peculiar circumstances of the case, was agreed to. There is no doubt that empty huts do attract illegal activities. If any huts are found to be abandoned, they are demolished.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, I am sure that the Commissioner has only had one request because I sent it and the others I turned down because they were hopeless. I notice that the Department passes on the responsibility to the Police. Would it be possible, Mr. Chairman, to get a report from the Police as to what they are doing, because whenever I go to Kowloon Bay, the people surround me and say they are having robberies every day. Could the Police give us a report as to what they are doing about this?
CHAIRMAN:- I would be happy to try and get it for you, Mrs. ELLIOTT.
(6) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:
(a) What action is taken when Ward Councillors mark an envelope URGENT? Who opens the letter, and who deals with it?
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
15
(b) Why have the tenants of a building in Hok Lo Village, the scene of a fire before Chinese New Year, been left in the Transit Camp so long? What action has been taken on a letter which was marked “URGENT" and was sent more than a month ago on the matter of the danger of the building to which they have been ordered to return?
THE CHAIRMAN, URBAN COUNCIL, IN THE ABSENCE OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT, replied as follows:-
As far as the Resettlement Department is concerned, letters marked "urgent" are opened by the officers to whom they are addressed who then take whatever action may be appropriate.
The structure referred to in the second part of the question was only damaged by fire and the occupants are not eligible for resettlement. Mrs. ELLIOTT was informed accordingly on 29th January. She wrote again on 5th February, with a reminder on 11th March. The points raised by her required detailed consultations with other departments and it was not possible to send a final reply until 25th March. The families concerned, who had called at the office in the meanwhile, were kept informed of the position.
MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, may I ask you if the Commissioner, in telling you he couldn't come today, also told you that he has some further news on this.
CHAIRMAN:- Unfortunately not, Mrs. ELLIOTT.
MRS. ELLIOTT: Well, Mr. Chairman, may I tell you now that I have a letter here which admits that he hasn't been reading my letters at all and he was telling people to go back to a structure which had already been demolished, a cock-loft. Seven families were told to go back and live in a cock-loft which the Public Works Department had already demolished. Mr. Chairman, I am concerned about these urgent cases, not only Resettlement, but also Social Welfare Department. Is there such a thing as an Urgent Case Department? Could they set up such a thing, because sometimes I find people evicted. In one case, a sick woman evicted from her shop. In another, a mentally defective woman evicted. Can we do something about it because it takes months to get an answer?
CHAIRMAN:- As far as I know, Mrs. ELLIOTT, all departments deal urgently with matters marked "Urgent", but in many cases, as the Commissioner for Resettlement has made clear, some consultation is inevitable. But if you have a particular case to look into, I would be happy to pass it on and do what I can to help.
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Page 16 of 241
14
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
(5) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:—
(a) What action is being taken against illegal activities such as gambling, drug-trafficking and robbery in the Kowloon Bay Resite Area?
(b) In view of the constant reports by letter, by ward visit, and by people during visits to Kowloon Bay, what are the possibilities of the people of the area being resettled soon?
(c) Is the Commissioner aware that empty huts left standing attract these illegal activities? If so, what is being done about these huts?
THE CHAIRMAN, URBAN COUNCIL, IN THE ABSENCE OF THE COM- MISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT, replied as follows:-
Action against illegal activities in Kowloon Bay, or elsewhere, is the responsibility of the Police. Any reports on such activities received by the Resettlement Department are passed on to the Police.
Families in the Kowloon Bay Class II licensed area are not eligible for resettlement unless the site they occupy is required for a public purpose. I can only trace one request for resettlement in this area which, because of the peculiar circumstances of the case, was agreed to. There is no doubt that empty huts do attract illegal activities. If any huts are found to be abandoned, they are demolished.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, I am sure that the Commissioner has only had one request because I sent it and the others I turned down because they were hopeless. I notice that the Department passes on the responsibility to the Police. Would it be possible, Mr. Chairman, to get a report from the Police as to what they are doing, because whenever I go to Kowloon Bay, the people surround me and say they are having robberies every day. Could the Police give us a report as to what they are doing about this?
CHAIRMAN:-I would be happy to try and get it for you Mrs.
ELLIOTT.
(6) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:
(a) What action is taken when Ward Councillors mark an envelope URGENT? Who opens the letter, and who deals with it?
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
15
(b) Why have the tenants of a building in Hok Lo Village, the scene of a fire before Chinese New Year, been left in the Transit Camp so long? What action has been taken on a letter which was marked “URGENT" and was sent more than a month ago on the matter of the danger of the building to which they have been ordered to return?
THE CHAIRMAN, URBAN COUNCIL, IN THE ABSENCE OF THE COM- MISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT, replied as follows:-
As far as the Resettlement Department is concerned, letters marked "urgent" are opened by the officers to whom they are addressed who then take whatever action may be appropriate.
The structure referred to in the second part of the question was only damaged by fire and the occupants are not eligible for resettlement. Mrs. ELLIOTT was informed accordingly on 29th January. She wrote again on 5th February, with a reminder on 11th March. The points raised by her required detailed consultations with other departments and it was not possible to send a final reply until 25th March. The families concerned, who had called at the office in the meanwhile, were kept informed of the position.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask you if the Com- missioner, in telling you he couldn't come today, also told you that he has some further news on this.
CHAIRMAN:-Unfortunately not, Mrs. ELLIOTT.
MRS. ELLIOTT: Well, Mr. Chairman, may I tell you now that I have a letter here which admits that he hasn't been reading my letters at all and he was telling people to go back to a structure which had already been demolished, a cock-loft. Seven families were told to go back and live in a cock-loft which the Public Works Department had already demolished. Mr. Chairman, I am concerned about these urgent cases, not only Resettlement, but also Social Welfare Department. Is there such a thing as an Urgent Case Department? Could they set up such a thing, because sometimes I find people evicted. In one case, a sick woman evicted from her shop. In another, a mentally defective woman evicted. Can we do something about it because it takes months to get an answer?
CHAIRMAN:-As far as I know, Mrs. ELLIOTT, all departments deal urgently with matters marked "Urgent", but in many cases, as the Commissioner for Resettlement has made clear, some consultation is inevitable. But if you have a particular case to look into, I would be happy to pass it on and do what I can to help.
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