1975 — Page 46

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Convention Centre are, as its name implies intended for conventions and conferences.

It would appear therefore that the Hong Kong Convention Centre offers a different type of service to the public, and should be considered as complementary to the facilities at the City Hall and welcomed.

(3) DR. P. C. WONG asked the following question (in English): –

With regard to the Hawker Problem, why do we not adopt a de-centralization plan instead of a over-concentration plan which has, in fact, not one single pragmatic bene- ficial effect to all concerned. Decentralization, on the contrary, would ease all parties concerned.

MR. HENRY H. L. HU, CHAIRMAN OF THE HAWKERS SELECT COM- MITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-

I thank Dr. P. C. WONG for raising its question.

I presume the question is whether the Council will consider creating a greater number of Hawker Permitted Areas to dilute the concentrations of hawkers in the present ones. This is one of a number of possible courses of action now under active consideration by the Hawkers Select Com- mittee.

(4) MR. TSIN SAI-NIN asked the following question (in Cantonese):

(a) About half a year ago I enquired how many families there were in which two family members (whether they be parents or children) were holders of hawker licences and how many in which three family members were licensees. These questions have not been answered. I want to know why and when they will be answered. Is it possible to change the "one family, one hawker licence" policy?

(b) Must the Hawker Permitted Area scheme go through the whole of the 6-month trial period? Is it possible to stop it earlier in those areas where the experiment has proved to be quite unsatisfactory? If it is decided to stop the

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scheme, how will the hawkers in the areas concerned be accommodated?

(c) How many licensed fixed-pitch hawkers are there in Hong Kong? How are they being distributed in the 10 urban service districts? How can a licensed peddlar hawker become a licensed fixed pitch hawker?

MR. HENRY H. L. HU, CHAIRMAN OF THE HAWKERS SELECT COM- MITTEE, replied as follows (in English):—

Mr. TSIN is the Vice-Chairman of the Hawkers Select Com- mittee and I would thank him for raising these questions. Regarding question (a) I can trace no question on this subject by Mr. TSIN in the last year, but he did ask such a ques- tion in 1973. The answer then and now is that it is not possible from present records to say how many hawkers hold two or more licences. There are over 32,000 haw- ker licences to check, and other difficulties. For example husband and wife do not always use the same surname, and a great deal of research is necessary to discover whether children are still living with their parents. Figures are therefore not available; to obtain such figures it would be necessary to interview all licensed hawkers about their family particulars and to carry out checks; this would be extremely time-consuming, and non- productive.

The "one licence, one family" rule is a very sensible policy, designed to allow hawking to provide a livelihood for the many, rather than for a few families, each with its own "Hawker Empire", hawking is generally small business, and should remain so.

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With regard to question (b), perhaps the second part of the question is best dealt with first. I assume that Mr. TSIN is referring to Tung Choi Street. The problem is what to do with the 800 hawkers if the area is degazetted now. am afraid there is no easy answer to this. The Hawkers Select Committee has considered many ways of dealing with the situation in Tung Choi Street, and will be pleased to consider any constructive suggestions put forward. The answer therefore is that the HPA scheme need not necessarily proceed for the whole 6 months period un- changed, and indeed there are already proposals to mark