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respect of those operating illegal restaurants which approximate to a Cooked Food Stall business, an offer was made to register them for resiting ultimately into a bazaar although there is no specific site for such a bazaar in San Po Kong. Those who registered within the time limit have already been told in writing that they may, if they wish, be temporarily resited in To Kwa Wan.

(c) Considerable thought has been given to the provision of space for Cooked Food Stalls but provision of land for this purpose in San Po Kong, which is already substantially developed and where the demand for space is great, presents serious problems. In regard to the particular site in question this has been reserved and planned for as public open space for many years already and it was allocated to the Department for development in 1967.

MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, may I ask if the Chairman of the Hawker Policy Select Committee has visited the site and has he noticed that this area is completely taken up by factories, and does he expect the factory workers to go and forage in the park for their food?

MR. CHEONG-LEEN:- Mr. Chairman, I have not visited the site recently, but I have been to San Po Kong and passed the site a number of times. I must admit I did not visit the site in particular relation to this question, but I did take the trouble to study the papers in connexion with this particular question. I do know that in the San Po Kong area, which is heavily built up, it is really a problem to find space for a cooked food bazaar. However, in San Po Kong, there are various places where food can be bought, and I do think that, bearing in mind that this particular site has been reserved for an open space and it was allocated in 1967 under a priority programme, the very best use is being made of this particular site.

MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, when the Chairman of the Hawker Policy Select Committee says there is plenty of food in the area, he obviously has not visited. May I ask that this whole question be brought before, I am not quite sure which is the appropriate committee, but first of all to find out why the committee was not informed of this clearance, secondly why the hawkers were not given any alternative, and thirdly why we have no cooked food hawkers licensed in the San Po Kong?

MR. CHEONG-LEEN:- Mr. Chairman, I think that taking these three points in seriatim; first of all, this particular site had been reserved for an open space, and it was allocated to the Urban Council to be developed as open space in 1967. Now, the question of priority—I think this is something which Mrs. ELLIOTT can take up very well with the Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Select Committee when he comes in—but it is obvious that in a highly developed area like San Po Kong, there is an equally, if not more serious need for open spaces especially for our younger generation. Now, as regards the clearance itself, I think strenuous efforts have been made by the Department to offer alternative sites to quite a number of these squatters. According to information which I have found out, there were 21 illegal restaurants there, there were 23 illegal food factories, there were 5 illegal tea and coffee shops. Now, the 21 illegal restaurants and 5 illegal tea and coffee shops were offered sites in To Kwa Wan, also the 23 illegal food factories have been offered space at a bazaar, which may be known eventually as the Hammer Hill Bazaar. Besides these illegal restaurants and food factories, there were 4 wooden box makers, 29 domestic and storage structures, 1 carpenter, 5 paper balers, 3 sand and brick dealers, 2 scrap metal dealers, 1 marine hawker and 4 cotton waste sorters. Now, this group here, they were handled by the Resettlement Department under the existing policy. I understand that, of this lot, 16 were offered alternative sites. There were some of them, I understand, who could not operate their existing businesses in premises which the Resettlement Department was prepared to provide. If they were willing to change their businesses, then the Urban Council, or Urban Services Department, would also be prepared to assist, providing that these people were able to change their businesses, or were prepared to become hawkers. So, I think the question of offering them alternative sites does not arise at all, because as far as I can see the Department—in fact both departments, Urban Services and Resettlement Department did make very strong efforts to accommodate these people.

MRS. ELLIOTT:- Mr. Chairman, I am sorry to have to contradict, but I would like Mr. CHEONG-LEEN to go right into this again. May I ask him if he has seen the English letter which was sent to these people, in which nothing was promised—I wonder if he knows they've had to be referred to the Social Welfare Department because they have no means of living, and I wonder if he knows that there is nothing ready for them at To Kwa Wan at the moment? No promises have been made. I would like Mr. CHEONG-LEEN to confirm that he doesn't know this point.

MR. CHEONG-LEEN:- Mr. Chairman, would you be prepared to confirm that these people were offered sites, and could I also ask the Commissioner for Resettlement whether or not the second group, whose different categories I have already listed, were offered sites by the Resettlement Department?

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:- Mr. Chairman, I couldn't myself answer that question without notice, but as far as I am aware those in the categories that Mr. CHEONG-LEEN mentioned, would in normal circumstances, have been offered alternative sites.

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