1971 — Page 66

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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

Page 66 of 242

113

(10) MR. JOHN MACKENZIE asked the following question:-

With reference to public complaints made concerning the activities of hawkers in Shing On Street, Shau Kei Wan will the Chairman please advise:—

(a) the number of licensed/unlicensed hawkers in this

area;

(b) the reasons for the excessive quantities of refuse in the area, and the action taken by the Department to deal with this problem;

(c) the number of summonses issued against hawkers in the area for obstruction or other reason, and the resultant penalties imposed;

(d) the Department's intentions with regard to effective

control and/or eventual re-siting of these hawkers.

MR. R. H. LOBO, CHAIRMAN OF THE HAWKER MANAGEMENT SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:-

This question draws attention to one of the worst food-for- man areas in which action which has been possible by the Department has not been sufficiently effective to over- come the problem.

There are 12 licensed fixed pitch hawkers in Shing On Street. In addition, there are 85 licensed static pedlar hawkers operating regularly there. These pedlars still hold licences but will, in due course, be converted to fixed pitch status in accordance with the policy of the Council. There are also about 30 mobile pedlar hawkers who operate on an irregular basis. Most of them hold pedlar licences, and do not operate statically.

However, the major cause of the problem in this area is the conglomeration of between 60 to 70 illegal food-for-man hawkers who used to operate in Shing On Street but have, since last summer, moved up the hillside because of fre- quent efforts of the Hawker Control Force to arrest them. These hawkers are particularly skilful in dispersing and avoiding arrest, and they are generally assisted in this by the topography of the area. Raids by Police or Control Force personnel have little deterrent effect as the lack of vehicle access prohibits swift action by raiding squads, thus providing the culprits with long warning periods. This chaotic situation will prevail until the Department is provided with necessary additional resources. such resources are available, the area in question will, together with other similar areas, be given priority.

When

The quantity of refuse in the area is, like other such hawker areas, considerable, despite the efforts of the Cleansing Division which carries out four daily collections in addi- tion to regular beat duties.

Action taken by Control Staff in Shing On Street since 1st

January, 1971 is as follows:

Charges

Summonses

Seizures

56

61

115

Most of the offences were in respect of obstruction or hawking without a licence and fines ranged from $10 to $25. As stated above, there have been, amongst these, only a relatively small number of successful arrests of food-for-man hawkers, although the Force managed to seize a considerable amount of hawker paraphernalia and restricted foods abandoned by illegal hawkers escaping

arrest.

The permanent solution to this problem is dependent on the provision of a suitable off-street bazaar in the area and the department is sparing no effort to find such a site.

MR. MACKENZIE:-Mr. Chairman, would the Chairman of the Hawker Management Select Committee agree that this is a particularly bad example of the chaotic situation which prevails throughout the whole of hawker control and can he say what steps his committee have recommended or are recommending for some specific approach to these problems?

MR. LOBO:-This is one of the very bad spots. There are similar bad spots. The solution I have said would be firstly to create more hawker bazaars and get them off the streets, also to cut the size of the pitches to proper size and of course the manpower we have got to control. At the moment we are very short.

MR. MACKENZIE: Mr. Chairman, throughout our discussions on hawker control we are continuously faced by the phrase “lack of resources". This appears to be a rather poor excuse in a continuing complex. May I ask what steps are being taken to ensure that these resources are provided?

MR. LOBO:-Well, the fact remains that the conditions of service are very bad. We are losing more people than we are at the moment able to engage but I think that certain provisions are being made and the Department has been successful in getting more facilities. I pre- sume that the Chairman can answer this better than I can as it comes under his control.