1972 — Page 199

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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

377

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It is our policy that open space is for common usc. It must be acquired, developed and maintained for the enjoyment of the public as a whole. This must always remain our aim. We must press on with our development programme in an orderly manner, first, for the recreation of the masses in their own neighbourhoods where the need is greatest and, then, with increasing sophistication, for the staging of spectacles and competitions to meet the requirements of all the popula- tion.

There is money in our public coffers; let it be spent to better the lot of the people. More and more, the people will expect better enter- tainment opportunities as they aspire to a better life. So, much as this Council may have done up to now, it is only a start and serves to point the way; but, if this Council has not done more, it has not been for want of trying, for we have no land and money and are subject to control in many ways. Still, the record bears comparison with what other cities do, even without our problem of people. But, then, Hong Kong is no mean city.

QUESTIONS

(1) MR. LO TAK-SHING asked the following question (In English) :-

Will the Chairman please arrange in future that sea water taken for analysis be taken both during tidal inflow as well as tidal outflow?

DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (In Cantonese):—

This question concerns sea water samples taken for bacterio-

logical examination.

Samples will be taken at tidal outflow as well as inflow during March. Depending on results, consideration will be given to making this a permanent practice.

(Mr. Peter C. K. CHAN arrived at this point.)

(2) MR. JOHN MACKENZIE asked the following question (In English): —

To what extent has the reorganization of Urban Services Department, envisaged in the Working Party Report of April 1972, been implemented? What decisions have been reached regarding the creation of Urban Services Regional Offices? How many are to be established, in which districts are they to be located, and what are their functions and responsibilities?

THE CHAIRMAN, URBAN COUNCIL, replied as follows (In English):— I propose to answer the first part of Mr. MacKenzie's ques-

tion last.

I have decided to create two regional offices in the urban

areas-one for Hong Kong and one for Kowloon.

Each region will have an appropriate number of district offices corresponding to C.D.O. Districts and Urban Council Ward areas.

Each District will have an Urban Services District Officer in charge, each of whom will have similar functions and responsibilities, i.e., each will be responsible for managing the entire range of urban services in his district. Each will also be expected to advise on the effectiveness of policy and the need for an expansion of urban services to meet growing district needs.

Pending the recruitment and training of the additional per- sonnel which this reorganization will require, a pilot project has started this month in Central District, the purpose of which is to locate and overcome any organiza- tional snags that have not been so far envisaged and also to establish internal relationships and levels of responsi- bility. It is hoped to reorganize the department com- pletely before the autumn in line with the Working Party's Report.

MR. MACKENZIE (In English):-Mr. Chairman, could I ask you a couple of quick questions? One, could you give us some indications as to when these regional offices will be effective; and, secondly, why Central as the pilot area? Surely this is rather better developed, already supplied with the services concerned?

(Mr. B. A. BERNACCHI left the meeting at this point.)

CHAIRMAN (In English):-In answer to the first part of the ques- tion, I am unable to give a specific answer because, although the posts have been approved, we just cannot get the necessary bodies put on the ground to effect the re-organization. As regards the second part, this particular experiment has to be closely supervised by the people who know what they are trying to do, and Central is the one area which is most accessible to the officer in this Headquarters who can look after it.

MR. SALES (In English):-Sir, is the setting up of the regional offices not a departure from the original recommendations of the Working Party's report?

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