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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
turn a blind eye to their existence and leave them to their own devices. After all, the problems will not vanish altogether with the abolition of the HPAS. For the time being, such areas should therefore be retained.
There has been strong suggestion that hawkers in permitted areas are squeezed by influential elements. If so, it is all the more necessary to exercise proper control over the HPAs.
As regards the methods of control, we may conduct a survey, issue licences, re-arrange the sites to facilitate traffic flow and resite excessive hawkers to other bazaars.
If the proposed methods of control are accepted, we have to issue licences to the unlicensed hawkers on the one hand and to provide more hawker bazaars wherever possible or channel hawkers to trade in public housing estates on the other.
For years, it has been the Council's policy to seek a gradual reduction in the number of hawkers. Under this policy, no new hawker licences will be issued unless in very exceptional cases. Yet the number of hawkers is steadily on the increase.
The reasons for the growing number of hawkers are:
(i) Hawker bazaars are either insufficient or badly located; thus hawkers emerge;
(ii) Shop rentals are exorbitantly high while hawking does not require a large capital;
(iii) Family members of workers take up hawking to supplement family income;
(iv) Unemployed workers switch to hawking;
(v) The income derived from hawking is more than that earned by working in commercial and industrial sectors; thus many people quit their former jobs and become hawkers.
If the above conditions still prevail, the number of hawkers will only increase in proportion with the population, unless they feel special pressure and meet difficulties. In any case, it is unlikely that the number of hawkers will go down year by year.
If there are sufficient low-rent hawker bazaars, the number of itinerant hawkers will undoubtedly be greatly reduced. However, I am afraid that this will not happen in the foreseeable future.
Since it is by no means easy to thin the rank of hawkers, the Government should explore ways and means to improve the conditions of existing hawker permitted areas and the management of hawkers.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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I therefore agree that hawking should be regarded as a kind of business and not as a form of social relief.
I also endorse the view that every hawker should be licensed.
The licensing of hawkers will not only enable the authority to know the number of hawkers and the kinds of goods sold, hence rendering control easier but will also, by charging varying licence fees, force those hawkers who do not earn much through hawking to turn to commerce and industry.
Before an unemployment insurance scheme is introduced, the authority may consider issuing some temporary hawker licences. The fee for such licence should be kept as low as possible. It should be valid for 3 months subject to renewal for not more than once. If the licence is still required after one renewal, then under the prevailing economic climate, it should be converted to the ordinary hawker licence with higher licence fee.
The second purpose of licensing hawkers is to bring more revenue to the Government so as to meet part of the management costs.
With the development of more satellite towns and public housing estates, hawker problem is no longer one that affects urban areas alone.
The existence of unlicensed hawkers is a natural result of inadequate provision of hawker bazaars and the growth of population.
This is especially the case in the housing estates, where shop spaces are quite limited and the bids for them are high. It was said that the prices of commodities sold in certain shops in the housing estates were higher than those in the urban areas. This is another reason for the presence of hawkers. Therefore it is our hope that the Housing Authority will give early consideration to the hawker problem. If the problem is dealt with by simply driving the hawkers away or by arresting them, it will only cause inconvenience to both the hawkers and the public.
Since the Government has time and again proposed to increase the number of paid and unpaid holidays, it is expected that, in future, people will have a greater demand for cultural and recreational activities. For this reason, expeditious provision of such facilities as swimming pools, parks and playgrounds, libraries, etc. is required in order to meet future social needs.
Urban Councillors were elected by the residents in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories, but the jurisdiction of the Council
Page 107 of 135
180
Page 107 of 135
178
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
turn a blind eye to their existence and leave them to their own devices. After all, the problems will not vanish altogether with the abolition of the HPAS. For the time being, such areas should therefore be retained.
There has been strong suggestion that hawkers in permitted areas are squeezed by influential elements. If so, it is all the more necessary to exercise proper control over the HPAs.
As regards the methods of control, we may conduct a survey, issue licences, re-arrange the sites to facilitate traffic flow and resite excessive hawkers to other bazaars.
If the proposed methods of control are accepted, we have to issue licences to the unlicensed hawkers on the one hand and to provide more hawker bazaars wherever possible or channel hawkers to trade in public housing estates on the other.
For years, it has been the Council's policy to seek a gradual reduc- tion in the number of hawkers. Under this policy, no new hawker licences will be issued unless in very exceptional cases. Yet the number of hawkers is steadily on the increase.
The reasons for the growing number of hawkers are:-
(i) Hawker bazaars are either insufficient or badly located; thus
hawkers emerge;
(ii) Shop rentals are exorbitantly high while hawking does not
require a large capital;
(iii) Family members of workers take up hawking to supplement
family income;
(iv) Unemployed workers switch to hawking;
(v) The income derived from hawking is more than that earned by working in commercial and industrial sectors; thus many people quit their former jobs and become hawkers.
If the above conditions still prevail, the number of hawkers will only increase in proportion with the population, unless they feel special pressure and meet difficulties. In any case, it is unlikely that the number of hawkers will go down year by year.
If there are sufficient low-rent hawker bazaars, the number of itinerant hawkers will undoubtedly be greatly reduced. However, I am afraid that this will not happen in the foreseeable future.
Since it is by no means easy to thin the rank of hawkers, the Government should explore ways and means to improve the conditions of existing hawker permitted areas and the management of hawkers.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 107 of 135
179
I therefore agree that hawking should be regarded as a kind of business and not as a form of social relief.
I also endorse the view that every hawker should be licensed.
The licensing of hawkers will not only enable the authority to know the number of hawkers and the kinds of goods sold, hence rendering control easier but will also, by charging varying licence fees, force those hawkers who do not earn much through hawking to turn to commerce and industry.
Before an unemployment insurance scheme is introduced, the authority may consider issuing some temporary hawker licences. The fee for such licence should be kept as low as possible. It should be valid for 3 months subject to renewal for not more than once. If the licence is still required after one renewal, then under the prevailing economic climate, it should be converted to the ordinary hawker licence with higher licence fee.
The second purpose of licensing hawkers is to bring more revenue to the Government so as to meet part of the management costs.
With the development of more satellite towns and public housing estates, hawker problem is no longer one that affects urban areas alone.
The existence of unlicensed hawkers is a natural result of in- adequate provision of hawker bazaars and the growth of population.
This is especially the case in the housing estates, where shop spaces are quite limited and the bids for them are high. It was said that the prices of commodities sold in certain shops in the housing estates were higher than those in the urban areas. This is another reason for the presence of hawkers. Therefore it is our hope that the Housing Authority will give early consideration to the bawker problem. If the problem is dealt with by simply driving the hawkers away or by arrest- ing them, it will only cause inconvenience to both the hawkers and the public.
Since the Government has time and again proposed to increase the number of paid and unpaid holidays, it is expected that, in future, people will have a greater demand for cultural and recreational activi- ties. For this reason, expeditious provision of such facilities as swim- ming pools, parks and playgrounds, libraries, etc. is required in order to meet future social needs.
Urban Councillors were elected by the residents in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories, but the jurisdiction of the Council
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